


Terms and Conditions

by Taylor1990



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: AU - Alternative Universe, Artificial Intelligence, But not a lot because this fanfic aint about that, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language (from the start), F/M, Fuck you and your canon., Gen, I do what I want., Kellogg might actually be a good father he just needs the chance, Liberties liberties taken EVERYWHERE, Major Canon-Divergence, Multi, My fanfic, Nora actually gets to see her son grow up, Other, Politics, Science jargon that I’m making up, Shitting all over Fallout lore because I can, Slow Burn, Two fucked up people that find common ground in being barely human., Violence, and she’ll be damned if she lets anyone turn her son into an asshole
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-08-16 18:03:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8112091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taylor1990/pseuds/Taylor1990
Summary: Synth development has come to a grinding halt and Kellogg has been tasked with retaining the Institute's greatest asset, 140 years later than planned. Sounds simple enough, but there's a catch...there always is.The asset comes with an accessory and when he finds the baby boy and his mother he's not sure which is which.Nora's been put on a pedestal long before she was born and has spent most of her life trying to get off it and she'll be damned if she'll let a bunch of underground scientists do the same to her son.Inheriting her grandmother's venomous mouth and the pure determination gifted to her by the father of her son might just be enough to make the Institute regret honouring a 175 year old contract.





	1. Humanity's Last Hope

**Author's Note:**

> A ridiculous amount of research has gone into this, to the point of it actually being really sad (lol) and every event mentioned (before the Great War, during cryostasis and afterwards) will somehow be connected to the characters involved or the organisations mentioned. 
> 
> In case it wasn't clear, lots of this is not lore friendly...at all. But I've tried not to be too ridiculous. At least I think I have.

They stood in front of the pod ahead of her, she tried screaming for their attention. _I’m the one you’re looking for!_ But she knew her voice wouldn’t carry through five inches of solid glass. They ignored her, their attention solely on the man holding her son.

Nate was awaking up - coming to,  _dethawing_...whatever you want to call it - a little confused and a lump formed in her throat when she saw him refuse to give over the boy. If it was anyone else, she would have been grateful but given the emblem on the back of their contamination suits, they were here for all of them. She telepathically willed him to hand her son over so they could all leave peacefully.

Evidently telepathy wasn’t a skill she’d acquired because he wasn’t giving in, so she resorted to banging her fists against the glass, using her left more than her right because she knew all the bones would break before she even cracked it. Finlay told her that a bionic arm would come in handy one day, she just didn’t expect it to be in a situation like this.

The sound of metal against glass deafened her in the small confined space she was stuck in, but she didn’t stop. If they hadn’t been briefed correctly (which was likely, considering Finlay _loved_ keeping people in the dark) they would have no idea they needed her and would leave with her son.

It all happened at once. 

The gunshot drowned out the sound of the glass cracking and she was about two seconds away from punching a hole all the way through. One of the scientists must have noticed because the door to her pod was lifting before she could inflict more damage.

Her hands were busy trying to undo her straps whilst her legs and torso pushed forward, ready to scold the three of them for botching what should have been a simple mission. Come to the Vault, get the woman, man and child and get them out.

It was hardly something that needed to end in bloodshed. 

She took a second to raise an eyebrow at the woman in the masked contamination suit who was cooing pointlessly over her son. He was awake but hardly made a sound, not even the slightest bit disturbed by the gunshot.

“Are you a fucking idiot?” her voice was soft but laced with venom as she put her attention on the bald man in front of her. She clenched her fists in an effort to stop herself from slapping him, resisting the urge to use the hand that would easily slice through his cheek. 

She could still smell the gunpowder in the air and a small part of her mourned the death of her bodyguard — mainly because his lifeless body was slumped only a few feet away from her and blood and brain matter covered the back of his pod. Nate's suggestion that her and Shaun be kept separate had, evidently, backfired on him. But it didn’t matter, she was alive and, more importantly, so was her son.

The mercenary looked taken aback for less than a second before his face returned to its stoic expression.

“He resisted,” stated the man, his voice gruff and unapologetic as he crossed his arms over his chest. He looked half annoyed and half bored, as if he had better things to do than explain himself to her.

A look of surprise flashed across Nora's face before disappearing when she noticed the masked woman outstretching Shaun for her to take. She sighed in relief that at least Finlay had told them _something_ ,and happily took hold of her baby. 

“Of course he did,” she kept the resolution of her voice low in order not to disturb Shaun; she'd really lose her temper if he started crying. “You open his pod, try and take my son, and then threaten him. Try explaining who the fuck you are before pulling something like that!"

C.I.T had been intelligent enough to plan in the event of total nuclear annihilation and yet were still stupid enough to employ complete imbeciles. This is what happened when they decided to outsource rather than pay their own men to do their dirty work. 

Not that she considered herself the least bit dirty.

Two scientists, accompanied by a mercenary in case they shat themselves. She couldn’t believe there were three of them and they still managed to screw it up. It was laughable. C.I.T practically owned Vault-Tec’s arse, considering most of their engineers studied at the college; anyone with half a brain would know how to get inside.

The other three looked eager to leave but Nora didn’t care, her attention was solely on the baby in her arms and she was pretty sure that if she went back to work now, she was going to put a gun in Finlay’s face for being a complete moron. 

Nora was tired, which she thought was odd sensation to feel, considering she’d just spent the last ten years essentially asleep. The human body was funny like that, how you could feel more tired after a nap.

“We should go,” suggested the male scientist as he noticed the residents of the other pods stirring.

Nora obliged by taking a step forward, her eyes still cooing over Shaun. At least no one had dropped him, there would have been hell to pay if anyone had.

She heard the life-support switch off, the drums of the pods cease, and shrugged at the idea of everyone suffocating for their ignorance. Vault-Tec really were the biggest joke of the twenty-first century and everyone fell for it.

Nora's entire world changed the moment she announced her pregnancy to Finlay. The ‘New Plague’ had devastated most of the region before she was even born and infertility had been on the rise ever since. It was all but accepted that the human race would eventually die out; so when she fell pregnant it had been ingrained in her that she was the first woman in several years to accomplish such a thing. Hell, her own birth had been seen as a miracle. A lot of effort, more than she was comfortable with, went into making sure her and her unborn child were kept safe.

Nora had been told the same thing every day of her pregnancy; her and her son were humanity’s last hope. No pressure there then. 

Cryogenics was added to Vault 111 specifically for her and Shaun, the two of them needed to be kept ‘perfectly safe and preserved’ if the world went to hell, and being exposed to radiation would have either killed them or mutated them beyond the point of usefulness. 

She’d only be inside the Vault for a decade, so they’d told her, not that she’d be conscious for any of the waiting so it didn’t bother her how long they took; just as long as they actually came to get her, and to give Finlay his due, they did just that.

She didn’t need to see her face, the masked woman was not sly in her staring at all and she knew what was going through the woman’s head. Though instructed to rescue her, Finlay and the others probably hadn’t told any of them who she really was and they were probably thinking her compliance was for show, that she was going to make a break for it. Their formation told her as much, the two scientists either side of her, the hired mercenary at her rear, pistol in hand, ready to shoot her in the back.

Once upon a time, C.I.T was better than this. 

“What has Finlay done to my baby,” she muttered with a shake of her head. Her metaphorical baby, not the only in her arms, who was now soundly asleep, not even slightly unsettled by the sound of the gunshot just minutes ago. He’d probably gotten used to it in the nine months she carried him, given how long she spent at military bases during her pregnancy.

“Finlay?” asked the male scientist, as if he had a hard time remembering the name. “He’s been dead for years.”

Now she had time to concentrate on it, the scientist's voice sounded rather young. He probably was, the college _loved_ their young proteges.

“Radiation?” she inquired, her head lifting to face him whilst her hand continued to stroke the small arm of her son.

“Old age.”

Apparently the mercenary they’d hired didn’t like to say more than two words at a time. Hopefully, not speaking unless he had to was written somewhere in his contract.

“O- _old age_?” He was forty-five when she last saw him. And it had only been ten years, how on earth could he…

She stopped dead on her feet, her eyes staring down at the ground in front of her as her brain worked overtime. She saw the scientists stiffen and heard the man behind her lift his pistol.

“Oh, for fuck sake, I’m not running away.” 

The scientists relaxed but the mercenary did not, though she couldn’t blame him, he probably knew all too well how easily people lie.

Nora turned to face him, the dim light of the Vault bouncing off his bald, shiny head. He had a scar over his left eye, clearly made by an animalm but what animal she didn’t know. It didn’t look like any mark she’d seen before. He was wearing army fatigues, much like those soldiers used to wear and there was a permanent scowl on his face. As if he secretly thought it beneath him to be on a ‘rescue’ mission, though they hadn’t actually rescued her from anything in particular. Except a man who was no threat to her whatsoever.

“So, more time has passed than originally anticipated?” her voice was calm, professional.

“We should get you back to the Institute, they can explain everything better than I can.”

_Wow,_ a whole sentence actually left his mouth.

He gestured for her to continue walking but she didn’t budge. The three of them were idiots if they thought she was going anywhere without getting answers first.

And since when were C.I.T just ‘the Institute’?

“How, much, time, has, passed?” she emphasised every word. It was a simple question that required a simple answer.

“It’s 2227.”

It wasn’t a direct answer to the question she asked but she could do the maths pretty quickly. A hundred and fifty years…It took them one and a half centuries to get her. What bastard was in charge of the place now? God, they really did need her, and her son, more now than ever.

Without a word, she handed her son back to the woman, who, whilst a little shocked, was more than happy to hold him. Women turn into something else around newborns, Nora always found it creepy.

Before he even registered what was happening, she had snapped the mercenary’s pistol out of his grasp and fired shots into the ceiling, a river of obscenities leaving her mouth. She continued to pull the trigger even after the magazine was empty.

A shadow overcast her and Nora felt a strong hand ghost over her arm before gently peeling her fingers off the pistol.

“Got that out of your system?”

More words were definitely coming out of his mouth, even if his tone and expression were completely deadpan. He didn’t even look the slightest bit annoyed that she’d wasted his ammo, or that she’d managed to get the gun from him in the first place.

She heard the gentle snap on his holster as he placed his weapon back in it.

“We need to get back.”

They definitely didn’t like being here, not that she could blame them, the Vault had been disturbing enough when it was alive. The creaking of metal and mysterious echoes were like something out of a bad horror movie.

She waited until Shaun was back safely in her arms before speaking.

“I’ll start moving when you starting explaining shit to me,” she held her son closer to her chest. 

She didn’t like to think of him as such, but right now, Shaun was the best bargaining chip she had. They couldn’t afford _not_ to do as she asked, because with her son safely in the arms of his mother, they couldn’t risk shooting her because she would surely drop him, and, regardless of who was in charge of ‘the Institute’ now, that was the last thing anyone wanted.

“I suspect you’ve read my file, though clearly there are important details you decided to skim over." Or Finlay left out entirely. Nora internally groaned, annoyed he was dead, she really wanted to punch him. "I don’t do well with surprises, so, as desperate as you all are to get back to your precious headquarters, I’m not going anywhere until one of you starts talking.”

She pursed her lips, straightened her back and stood defiantly. Nora was hardly surprised that the mercenary spoke instead of the two scientists; both of them were so young that they were probably too busy trying not to wet themselves.

“You two,” he acknowledged the masked scientists with a general nod of his head. “Out.”

The male scientist stepped back whilst the female actually had the gull to step forward and outstretch her arms.

She raised an eyebrow and scoffed. “You must be out of your mind, love.”

“He’ll be fine.”

“Oh really? You want to take my son to the one place that has wanted him since before he was born, how do I know you’re not just going to shoot me? Sorry, I’ve waded through enough bullshit in my life not to be a fucking idiot.”

“Actually,” the woman cleared her throat, her voice lowering in what almost sounded like embarrassment. “As important as your son is, our primary objective is to keep you safe.”

“ _Oh._ ” Finlay must have written it into the contract, but she knew he hadn’t done it for her, he’d done it for her mother.

Reluctantly, she gave in with a sigh and cradled her son as she passed him to the woman. She stroked her thumb gently across his forehead.

“One scratch, one red mark - anything that indicates someone has stuck a needle in him - and I’m holding you personally responsible,” she stated calmly. Nora bent down to kiss her son and then turned away.

The two of them stood in silence as they waited for the other two to gain some distance. The mercenary's arms were folded in front of his chest and she moved her own to match his stance. Every time he puffed out his chest, she did the same, though Nora didn’t have the same impact as she was literally half the size of him.

“What did you want to know?” He shrugged, his face and demeanour telling her he had better things to do than entertain her. He didn’t really have a choice in the matter, short of being carried out, she wasn’t going anywhere.

“Where the hell do you want me to start? A hundred and fifty years, it’s shameful to the point of laughable. What took them so long?"

“It seems the Institute are having a little problem with their gen. threes.”

“Gen. threes…Seriously? There were still trying to perfect gen. twos when the world blew up, over a century and a half and they’ve not made _any_ progress at all?”

“The world ending did put a pin in some things.”

“If that’s what they told you then they’re full of shit. C.I.T have been preparing for the war longer than Vault-Tec. The ‘second coming’ of C.I.T was underground years before the bombs went off.”

Judging by the glimmer of surprise on his face, this information was news to him. Well, the place wouldn’t be what the place is if they told everyone _everything._

“They must have offered you a shit ton of money not to ask questions.”

“The Institute pays me exactly what I’m worth,” he stated ominously. 

“And _that_ ," her arm flinched out, chasing the word, "since when was C.I.T too good for a bunch of egghead scientists?”

“Well, C.I.T is in ruins, literally.” There was a curl of his mouth that she could have mistaken for an attempt to smile. 

“What else have ‘the Institute’ been working on?”

If he was about to say nothing, she was definitely going to lose her mind. 

“The usual, technology. They’ve moved to testing the FEV virus on human subjects.”

So not a lot had changed after all, it was still a bunch of scientists playing God.

“Unwillingly, of course,” she muttered emotionlessly. At least West Tek only experimented on animals and vermin. " What's the name of the dick in charge?”

“Harrogate. Though, I suggest you don’t call him one to his face.”

“And the dick in front of me?” she smiled. The man was far too serious for her liking. The deceased man several hundred feet behind them had the closest thing to a sense of humour, there was definitely a correlation between how smart and how funny a person was. Apparently you could never be both.

“I don’t know what dick you’re talking about but my name’s Kellogg.”

“As in cornflakes?” A laugh burst out of her mouth before she could control it. She laughed hysterically at her own sense of humour, only stopping when she became breathless. Kellogg stood confused but still as he waited for her to calm down.

Nora wiped away the tears that left her, wheezing halted breathes as she tried to steady herself. She could feel her heart pounding under the hand she’d placed on her chest.

“S-sorry,” she took a deep breath and sighed as she stood upright. “Prewar humour, probably lost on everyone else.”

Still, she couldn’t remember the last time she laughed so hard. Actually she could but she didn’t want to think about it, breaking down in the middle of a Vault, in front of a complete stranger, wasn’t an ideal situation for either of them .

“Maybe you should just call me Conrad.” He was looking at her like she’d lost her mind.

“In that case you should call me Nora.”

He hadn’t thought about calling her anything, if he was being honest. After this, he doubted their paths would cross again. Given how important she was to the Institute, there was no way they were going to let her go onto the surface, and he never spent more time than necessary inside the Institute.

“Is there anything else, or can we go now?”

“So impatient,” she murmured with a shake of her head. “As long as there are no surprises, I’m good to go.”

“Well, there is one more thing.”

Her eyes furrowed and she looked at him questioningly when he outstretched a hand for her to take.

“Can’t get you into the Institute if you’re not holding on,” he pointed out at her hesitation.

Begrudgingly -because she knew she had very little in terms of options - she took his hand and a breath of surprise left her when he pulled her closer to him, her face smashing against his chest. 

A blue light filled her vision and Nora felt her stomach twist. 


	2. Greatness Flows Through You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora meets the Director of the Institute

Kellogg could deal with not knowing, after all, part of his job was not to ask questions, and most of the time it was better not to know extra information that could get him killed…Well, killed faster anyway. Just go to the location, eliminate or attain the asset, get paid and then move on to the next job. But it would have been nice if someone had told him that this particular asset had a mouth on her.

And a filthy one at that.

It had been a while since he’d been tasked with acquiring rather than killing, he wouldn’t say it was nice, it was just… _different_. He’s not saying he wouldn’t have done it - if the money had been right - but Kellogg always preferred his victims with the ability to fight back. There was no honour in killing a defenceless kid. He knew there were three of them but it had been made painfully clear to him that the kid and his mother were a priority over the father. A part of him wishes he hadn’t killed the guy, he admired the way he refused to hand over his son and if he had been a different (better) man, maybe he could have done the same for his own kid. But the risk of him dropping the asset became too much and Kellogg had to do what he had to do.

When she stepped out of her pod, Kellogg expected her to break down, fall on her knees and cry a river over the loss of her baby daddy but she didn’t. Instead she turned her attention to him, face like thunder and a fire in her eyes that made him lose himself for half a second. The only other woman he’d met in his life that could convey every ounce of anger she felt and yet still not shout was his mother.

Mom was the sort of person who suffered in silence. Didn’t even make a noise when Dad came home, drunk out of his face, and began taking his own failures out on her body. His old man was a coward, not man enough to fight someone his own size. But Mom was strong, a hell of a lot stronger than people gave her credit for, and spent most of her time making sure her own son didn’t take shit from anyone. Kellogg was fourteen when he finally stood up to the old man, growing tired of hearing his mother cry when she thought no one could hear her. He received a black-eye and a broken arm in response to his chivalry and one day, whilst Mom was busy in the kitchen and the old man was passed out in his chair, Kellogg decided enough was enough and left.

Kellogg wishes he could have taken her with him, but he knew she wouldn’t come no matter how much he begged. As much as she hated him, she still loved the old man and that love was what kept her from running away. It was her weakness.

But there was no point dwelling on the past, it wouldn’t change a damn thing and getting the two of them out of the Vault was only the first step. The first of many he had a feeling because, by the looks of her, this woman was not one whose will would easily break, and Kellogg couldn’t help but be smug about the idea. Finally, those eggheads would be knocked down a peg or two.

The two Institute nerds must have relayed as soon as they were out of view because the second they found themselves on the ground floor of the atrium, they were swarmed by people, synths and whatever else decided to join in on the spectacle. She didn’t even have time to enjoy her new surroundings before they descended on her.

Nora stayed close to him as one by one they grabbed her hand, welcomed her into their family and told her they’d heard a lot about her. Judging by the look on her face, she doubted it, he did too, to be honest, because he’d been told more about her than the others and still found himself surprised.

When everyone was done getting an eyeful and had all but dispersed, he placed a hand on her back to direct her towards Harrogate’s office. She raised an eyebrow at the gesture before letting her mouth curl into a smile and happily let him drag her away.

Kellogg heard the sigh leave her mouth the second they were alone. He couldn’t blame her, she’d been known of before the Institute was the Institute and her presence was like the second coming of Jesus. Everyone had ogled her like she was the latest attraction at Nuka-World.

“Where are we going?” she asked softly, no fear or worry in her voice and the anger she’d been expressing only moments ago was gone.

“Gotta take you to the boss.” But only because he had to.

Harrogate was young, fresh out of his mother’s cunt when he was put in charge of the place, had only been in power for a few years before Kellogg joined and his inexperience was obvious. People liked doing that, sticking the unqualified into a role they weren’t ready for, it’s easier to mould them into the person they need to be that way. Because they don’t know any better.

Kellogg knew better. To quote the woman next to him, he’d waded through too much bullshit to be an idiot, and if those scientist nerds continued playing God then it would only be a matter of time before it backfired.

Harrogate leapt out of his chair when they entered his office, shooting them a look when they walked through without knocking, before his eyes bulged out of his head when he recognised Kellogg, and more importantly, the woman next to him.

“Ms. Finlay,” he greeted with his hand outstretched.

If looks could kill, Harrogate would be dead on the floor right now. He’d only said her name and yet she looked like he’d just called her a bitch.

Nora clenched her fists, her left creaked whilst nails dug into her right palm. The bastard had actually put his own name in her file. If he wasn’t already dead she’d shoot him in the head for even contemplating it. She was going to have to get her hands on her file, just to see what else he’d put in there. Everyone thought she was oblivious to the rumours about her parentage, C.I.T being as big as it was, they thought it would never reach her but it simply meant that the rumour had further to travel. 

It went a long way to explaining why Finlay was so protective of her and why she looked nothing like her father, but she didn’t care. As far as she was concerned, Richard Pendleton, head of Mechanical Engineering, the man who was with her every day until his death, was the only father she needed and he never treated her like anything less than his own flesh and blood.

“It’s Pendleton,” her voice did not match the look on her face. She shook his hand half-heartedly as if it was beneath her to even acknowledge his existence.

“Oh,” Harrogate’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He walked back to his desk, gesturing for her to take the seat on the other side.

Nora stood behind it, her hands on the back of the chair. Harrogate gestured for her to take the seat once more and when she didn’t budge, Kellogg knew what she was waiting for. As soon as Harrogate’s ass hit the seat, she parked herself opposite him.

Kellogg eagerly awaited to see how Harrogate would fair against her, not well he was assuming.

“I apologise, your file says your surname is Finlay. I assume Pendleton is your married name?”

You know what they say about people who assume. 

Nora shook her head. “Not married. Never have been. Though I can’t say I’m shocked that my file doesn’t mention it, apparently there’s a lot of things my file doesn’t say.”

“Your file tells us everything we need to know.”

She scoffed at that, and not subtly either. Kellogg hid the amusement on his face but his shoulders betrayed him, luckily Harrogate didn’t notice, not that Kellogg would have cared if he had.

“Where is my son?” she asked. Nora knew he wasn’t in the room, or any of those adjoined. It’s something that comes with motherhood, being able to sense when your child is close.

“He’s fine. There’s a few things we need to discuss before you can see him.”

Kellogg bets Harrogate’s regretting saying that already. She’s up on her feet, ready to walk out and Kellogg braces himself for what’s coming next.

“I’m not saying a damn word until you bring me my son.”

The fact they thought any different only angered her more. Scientists are meant to be more human than this.

Harrogate flinched at her curse but didn’t move.

“Miss Pendleton I understand-“

“You understand nothing,” she seethed with the same passion she’d shown back in the Vault. “You made a mistake and because of that I spent a hundred and fifty years without my son in my arms. You send _three_ people into the Vault to wake up a very strong, _passionate,_ man who swore to protect Shaun and he paid for your idiocy with his life. Endangering my son in the process.”

Kellogg knew her last statement was aimed at him. On the contrary, he’d done it to protect the kid, or at least not let him become a lump of human pulp on the floor. It probably wasn’t the right time to bring it up.

“I am very aware there are things you want to discuss, but considering one of those things is my son, this discussion is over until I see him.”

She was still on her feet, not moving as anger ran through her whole body. Kellogg watched her muscles tense, saw her fists clench and silently told Harrogate to shut the hell up because, considering the damage she’d inflicted on bulletproof glass, she could pop his head off his neck with one slap around the face. And now was not the time for a change in management.

Harrogate, realising he was fighting a losing battle, turned his attention to Kellogg and, with one quick nod, instructed the Institute’s favourite mercenary to bring the kid back to his office.

It was weird carrying a baby, it had been over twenty years since he’d last held one this small. A red and wrinkly mess, this kid was less than a month old and was almost lost in his large hands. When he reentered the office, she was still on her feet, Harrogate was in his chair and he caught them in the middle of an intense staring contest. Kellogg handed her son back to her gently, as if he was a bomb ready to detonate, and as soon as her son was back in the safety on her arms, Nora sat back down.

It was definitely a power-play, this woman was _actually_ challenging the director of the Institute and Kellogg bet all his caps that she would win. The very fact she’d been part of C.I.T before the bombs went off was a big advantage, she probably knew more than all of them put together.

“Now,” Harrogate leant forward with intent, his fingers entwined with each other as his index fingers were pressed together over his mouth. “It’s safe to say you know why you’re here.”

“Humanity’s last hope,” she breathed, not even bothering to look at anyone else but Shaun.

Kellogg couldn’t really blame her, she did have a point - even if she had been frozen the entire time- it had still been over a hundred and fifty years since she held her son. She wasn’t going to let go of him unless she absolutely had to and knowing what he did about her already, she would find every reason to not have to.

“I know.” She was sick of hearing it. Every day of her pregnancy consisted of at least one person saying it and she only pretended to take it seriously to stop Finlay scooping her baby out of her womb and leaving her to die.

“We need to begin preparing him as soon as possible.”

She took her attention away from Shaun for two seconds to shoot Harrogate another look of death and Kellogg had the distinct feeling that, in her eyes, nothing he said would be the right thing.

“ _You_ are not preparing him for a damn thing,” she adjusted her hold on Shaun, pulling him protectively into her chest before turning to face him. “Conrad, would you mind holding Shaun for a moment?”

Awkward was an understatement but it was the way she said his name - the fact she used his first name - that made him step forward and grant her request. The months he had holding Mary weren’t enough to prepare him for it, Kellogg's pretty sure he’ll never get used to it. Babies are so tiny, so breakable - fragile. Something like that didn’t belong in his hands.

Plus, the last time she handed her son over with that look on her face, she emptied an entire magazine into the ceiling. He still wasn't sure how she managed to get it off him. _Quicker and quieter than a damn ghost._

“No one but the people I choose will have any physical contact with my son.”

She’d chosen him and it was a nice feeling, nicer than it should be.

“I understand that you have waited a long time for the two of us but I have waited longer than any of you. I will not allow my son to be used by a bunch of scientist idiots who want to play God.”

Nora had enough of that during her own childhood and she was going to give her son the one thing her mother hadn’t graced her with; a choice.

“It is-“

She cut his sentence short with the raise of her palm.

“I will not allow him to be poked, prodded or examined until he is old enough to understand and if he doesn’t want any part of it then there is nothing more to discuss. I’d rather brave life on the surface than expose my son to people who have spent too long around technology to understand emotions.”

As far as threats go, Kellogg thought it was pretty tame but if he was Harrogate right now he would be shitting his pants. The man certainly looked like he was.

“Then what do you propose?”

Not a smart move for a man supposedly in charge. 

There was no need to think it over, she’d had these conditions since Finlay took her into his office and told her his plan. She just never got around to telling him, considering she’d planned on having this conversation a hundred and forty years ago.

She would never forget it, even on her deathbed she would remind them of the years wasted. It was a miscalculation that was beneath the people that once worked at C.I.T, because God help her, calling it the Institute was going to take some getting used to. 

“He is treated like what he is; a baby. He will receive a _normal_ education and no one is to tell him he’s important, a hope for the future or any of the other bullshit you’ve all been told he is. Five years from now he’s given a tour of the Institute, if he comes to me and is curious then _I_ will tell him. No higher being or advanced technology will help any of you if he finds out from someone else.”

She didn’t take crap, Roger had taught her to fight for what she wanted and she’d expel her last breath doing that. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do when it came to Shaun.

Kellogg glanced intermittently down at the lump in his arms, just to check on him - apparently this kid can sleep through anything - but his eyes were mainly stuck on the woman sat in front of him. He didn’t even have a choice in the matter, her very presence seemed to force them there. 

It was just what the Institute needed, a little mayhem.

“And in the meantime? You are here because we need you and, with all due respect, you can’t expect us to put our plans on hold for five years.”

“I don’t. You continue your research into biomechanics, bridging that gap you’re all so desperate to cross, continue developing weapons. Oh yes, I know what you’ve been up to,” she added at the look of surprise on his face. Finlay was the beginning, he knew what kind of thing he wanted to create and had told her his plans for their future. 

“Have you been briefed on why we need your son?” He was probing her, trying to figure out just how much she knew. Unfortunately for him, she knew more than any of them about the building they called home. She’d been there when the schematics were drawn up, there were so many secret tunnels and rooms and she wondered if anyone knew they were there besides her.

She doubted it, they’re pretty hard to find, unless you’re looking for them.

“It’s safe to say you’ve begun trying to give synthetic life a human conscience, and considering you’re stuck on it, the problem lies in whatever DNA you’re using.”

She was mildly offended by the look of surprise on his face. He probably thought that the only reason she needed to be kept alive was because she’d spent her time in C.I.T on her back. She hadn’t of course, but if this organisation was anything like its predecessor, a rumour was likely to spread that Finlay was Shaun’s father and that image was too disgusting to warrant an image. But her brain still gave her one and she resisted the urge to vomit all over the perfectly clean floor.

“Radiation is like any other pathogen, seeping into the body and permanently changing DNA, no matter how subtly.” She thought it only fair to throw some science knowledge in before getting down to the crux of the matter. “Quite frankly everyone in that Vault would have fitted the criteria for pristine DNA, having never been exposed to nuclear fallout. So, why in particular, is my son the one you need?”

She knew the answer, she just wanted to see if he’d admit it.

“With him being what he is,”

“A baby.” She empathised, finishing his sentence not the way he’d intended.

“A baby.” It looked like it hurt him to say it. _Good_. “Cryogenically frozen, exposed to literally nothing out of the ordinary…it was everything we could have hoped for.”

_Humanity’s last hope_. Well, at least he was honest.

Kellogg did not want to be Harrogate right now. She was a strong, albeit small, mother fighting for her son. _Hell hath no fury_.

“What would have happened if you were told only to retrieve my son?”

Kellogg looked down at the kid at her question. _Yeah…what would have happened?_

“I don’t think I can answer that, as you were considered more important than the child.”

It was in his tone, Kellogg could hear it and judging by the way her back was up, she’d noticed it too. She was going to be the talk of the place for an entirely different reason now.

She bit her tongue - literally - to stop herself from leaping across the table. If he had something to say, he should just come out and say it. She took a deep breath and softened her grip of the chair, the left arm was starting to form to the shape of her fingers. Another downside. She wrote it down on the metaphorical list she’d been making. The pros and cons of bionic limbs.

“I’ll tell you my theory. Regardless, the man holding him would have died and you would have either refroze me, letting my son grow up without me whilst you performed experiments on him or you would have left me to suffocate. Letting my son grow up without me whilst you performed experiments on him.”

Harrogate couldn’t look her in the eye, he knew he probably wouldn’t be able to either. She’s stating it as fact and Kellogg’s pretty sure she’s not wrong. It’s exactly what would have happened. No matter how it started, either way the kid would have grown up without a mother. Experimented on every day of his life.

Kellogg sometimes hated that the place paid so well, otherwise he’d be literally anywhere else. Don’t get him wrong, the job comes with a lot of neat bonuses but sometimes it’s almost not worth it. But he doesn’t leave, it’s not like he’s got anywhere to go back to, or _anyone_ for that matter.

“No wonder you’re failing to give synthetic life human consciousness,” she said flatly. “You shut yourselves away from the outside world, live in your bubble and think you’re above it all.” Which Nora found ironic, considering they were underground.

Kellogg shared the same view. 

“We tried reaching out to the surface world.”

“By ‘we’ I assume you mean you sent a bunch of gen. ones and twos out instead?"

Yes. Yes, that is exactly what they did. Kellogg felt the kid in his arms squirm and looked down to check on him. Tiny eyelids flittered for a moment, a tiny arm went to move - not quite strong enough yet to reach the tiny, breathless, yawn that left him. 

As awkward as it was, he’ll admit he’s missed it…just a little.

“Did you ever think that was the problem? A shadowy organisation hiding behind a robot trying to be human, no wonder they don’t trust you.”

“How do you-“

“Because, if that happened to me, I wouldn’t trust you either.”

She didn’t trust him either way. As the Director, Harrogate would have done what he had to and anger ran through her at the idea of Shaun growing up without her. Being turned into a mindless drone like the rest of them. Except he would have been their king, their leader, their messiah, their holy grail. He would have grown up with a fucking God complex.

And whilst there was still breath in her lungs, Nora wouldn’t let that happen. _Life is fleeting, Nora_ her mother used to tell her, _Fragile. Appreciate every moment and most importantly, be humble. It is our humility that saves us_. And, of all people, her mother would know, given her field in nuclear science, it was her kindness that stopped her from using it to hurt people. Until the war broke out, then all bets were off.

The only person allowed to love her son was her, and the father he'd never meet.

“Test me.” Nora concludedidn’t after a short pause.

Thanks to her mother, Nora had been poked and prodded a lot, she was used to needles and she’d been locked inside the cleanest place in the Boston since the moment she was pregnant. Whatever flowed through her, flowed through him too, add in his father’s genes into that and what Finlay once told her might just ring true for her son. _Greatness flows through you._

“If you were to take the route of refreezing me then I can only conclude that I was a back-up, in case you failed with Shaun. Presumable ending his death,” her hand was back on the arm of the chair and she didn’t care if she snapped the thing in two. “So, how about, instead, you test me first?”

It wasn’t a question, more of a demand - one no one could refuse because either they did as she told them or they’d lose ‘humanity’s last hope’ forever.

She turned to look at Shaun, wrapped in two strong arms. He was awake, calm and settled due, in large, to the man holding him. A large finger was playing with his clenched hand, pulling faces at him. The mercenary looked comfortable, as if he’d done it before.

A small noise of joy left her son and Nora smiled. She wanted nothing more than to curl up next to him and fall asleep…Actually, that’s exactly what she was going to do.

Nora got up from the chair, didn’t even so much as acknowledge Harrogate, or the offended look on his face, and went to her son. Conrad was hesitant in handing him over, not because he wanted to keep him or anything, more because he was cautious about dropping him. He looked as though he’d been stuck in a daydream and only just realised there was actually a baby in his arms.

“Thank you, Conrad,” she offered him a smile, filled with gratitude and warmth - the smile of a mother - and he couldn’t help but _almost_ smile back. 

Harrogate’s still in the room, watching them with interest so now is not a good time to show emotions.  One sign of weakness and _bam_. You’re in a shallow grave, ready to take on hell and all its devils. Because there certainly weren’t a set of pearly gates waiting for him on the other side.

“I have had an _exhausting_ day and you have a lot to think about,” she addressed Harrogate with an eye flick that was so brief it was almost pointless. “Lots of things to discuss with your staff I imagine…So, if you’ll excuse me, I wish to spend some time with my son.”

Because, heaven help them, she’d better have a room in this craphole.

“Of course,” he cleared his throat and it was obvious in his body language that he didn’t understand at all. “We shall meet again in the morning. 9am.”

“I don't think so," she scoffed. "I suspect you don’t leave this office very often so when I’m ready to talk, I shall come here.”

It was about as vague as vague gets. Nora suspected Harrogate's arrogance made him think she would come by tomorrow at some point and that wasn’t going to happen. She was planning on letting him stew for at least two days just for calling her Finlay, even if he hadn't necessarily been his fault. Who knows, she might see how far she could take it, see how long it took him to come find her instead.

She held Shaun expertly in the bend of one arm as she laid a gentle hand on Kellogg’s arm. He’s not really sure what to do right now, how to take the gesture, how to respond to it. So he just looks at her, she’s smiling, that ‘mother smile’ that seems to come naturally to her, considering how little time she’d actually got to spend being one. 

“Conrad, would you mind showing me to my room?”

She wasn’t in charge of him so Kellogg still had to look at Harrogate for permission and he hated doing it. It took a lot of strength not to shoot the man, on multiple occasions he’d considered doing it, but having a bunch of robots out for his blood was not a smart move in the whole ‘stay alive’ thing he had going on right now.

Harrogate nodded, mostly because he was too shocked to speak. It was a good look for the man.

Kellogg turned towards the door, mumbled something that sounded like ‘follow me’. She swapped the arm holding her son and, without permission, looped her now free arm around his. He stopped dead for a second. Again, how does he take it, how the hell does he respond to it?

Apparently this woman wasn’t going to just be trouble for the Institute.


	3. Living Underground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kellogg and Nora go on a date, sort of...basically they go for breakfast together and Nora learns a little about life on the surface.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I flash back a little to Nora's past in this so please tell me if it's confusing.
> 
> Kellogg gets to show his fatherly side, just a little.

Kellogg led her to her room, opened the door and stood a safe distance outside the threshold, waiting for her to pass on her own. He didn’t feel like sticking around, he felt the overwhelming desire to go kill something. Feel a little less human for a moment. 

Yet he didn’t, couldn’t, move - his feet stuck firmly to the ground. She turned to look at him, an eyebrow crooked across her forehead.

“Conrad?” Shaun squirmed in her arms, she readjusted her grip on her son and silently shushed him as she waited for him to respond.

He knew what he was about to say, he just wasn’t sure why he felt the urge to say it.

“Listen, before everything gets too crazy, I just wanna say sorry,” he resisted the urge to rub his hand over the back of his neck (a nervous habit he’d worked hard to ignore). “You know, for what happened with his old man.”

His eyes fell on the kid, who had already fallen asleep. It’s been a while, he can hardly remember, but he’s sure that Mary didn’t sleep that much, or that soundly either. He spent many a restless night - well Sarah did anyway - cooing and rocking her until she fell asleep again. Must be the difference between boys and girls.

Nora looked at him, her face painted with confusion, and she followed his eyesight.

“Oh,” it finally hit her. “You mean Nate. That, that’s okay.”

Kellogg was visibly taken aback by her acceptance. When Sarah was killed he lost it, hunted down and ravaged every lead he had until he captured the sons of bitches that were responsible and here she was, stood in front of her husband’s killer and not moving a muscle.

“It was his fault.” 

Kellogg wasn’t sure if she was purposely being heartless.

Nathaniel James Finlay, or Fitzgerald as he had been forced to introduce himself as, but Nora wasn’t an idiot - he had the nose and general ‘holier than thou’ attitude that polluted the Finlay bloodline.

“He was my bodyguard, he wasn’t…His father...” Nora's sentence trailed off, not wanting to think too hard about Shaun’s real father. “You know what, it doesn’t matter. You were doing your job, just like he was, you’ve nothing to apologise for.”

_Oh._ It was his cue to leave, he had nothing else to say to her, and yet his feet were still not moving.

“Well,” she switched her gaze between him and the too-clean room behind her. “Goodnight, Conrad.”

“Yeah, bye,” he muttered. She offered him a gentle smile before walking away. Kellogg stared in front of him the whole time, barely registering her departure until he found himself staring into the empty threshold of her new room.

_I need to get the fuck out of here._

_Scientists do love their white walls._ Her room, hell the whole building, was clean; too clean. She felt the urge to dirty up the floor, throw some things around - just to make the place feel more lived in.

She continued to study her new room, gently rocking Shaun in her arm. It was devoid of anything one would use to create a home. Simple, basic. A double bed, with a chest of drawers. A cot placed carefully in the corner, a changing table and a door that led to what she suspected was the bathroom. If they were in this for the long haul then she would definitely need to get some paint in here.

Shaun squirmed in her arms and she raised him to kiss his forehead.

“We’ll get used to it,” she hoped.

She laid him down gently on her bed, carefully cradling his neck until he sunk comfortably into the mattress. It dipped slightly under her weight when she moved to lay next to him. One arm was folded under her head whilst the other circled her son, careful not to squash him, whilst fingers stroked his shoulder over his red onesie.

_He has his father’s nose, probably gets that frown from him too._ She smiled, running a finger lightly over the creases in his forehead. His eyes opened just a little, right now they’re a sea of black. He’s too small, too much of a lump (a cute one granted) but she knows he’ll have his father’s eyes too. Blue trumps brown in the genes department. It broke her heart knowing that Shaun would grow up without him, but she was determined to make sure he at least knew about his father. Her parents too for that matter. Shaun needed to know there was more than _this_ , that their lives should have turned out differently.

If those bastards hadn’t taken so long, and the original plan had been adhered to, they would have only spent ten years in the Vault and she could have spent her time trying to find him. He knew where she was going, what would happen to her inside the Vault. He wished her luck, told her he loved her and their son and that they’d see each other again.

A quivered sigh left Nora and she resisted the urge to cry. It wasn’t going to happen. He was gone, for real this time a nd she’d never felt more alone, there wasn’t someone on the end of the phone anymore. Someone to remind her that she was strong, that she could accomplish anything she set her mind to.

_I won’t be my mother_ she told herself as she watched her son. _He won’t be forced to do anything he doesn’t want to._

A young Nora winced, as she always did, when the needle penetrated her skin. For as long as she could remember this had been her life, at least once a week her and her mother would sit in one of the many research labs as scientists extracted vials of their blood.

The pain is quick but sharp and her eyes always water at the feeling of it. Her mother always did the same thing, rested her free hand on her shoulder.

“It’ll be over soon,” she would comfort.

“Why do we have to do this?”

“Because we’re special, Nora. We have something no one else does and it would selfish for us to keep it for ourselves.”

It wasn’t until she was a teenager, her mother and father both dead, that she truly realised what her mother actually meant. Her mother was the first person to give birth in a long time and C.I.T wanted to know what her secret was. Eventually deciding that it was in their genes, her mother allowed the two of them to be experimented on regularly. Nora let the experimentation continue, long after her parents were gone, because she didn’t know anything else. And Finlay believed that her own pregnancy proved his theory. 

Her father tended to let her mother do whatever she wanted with their daughter but Nora could hear them arguing at night, when she was supposed to be asleep.

“You’re perfectly content with letting them hurt our daughter.”

“They’re not hurting her.”

“No, of course not, they’re just poking her with needles every chance they get.”

“She’s special, Richard, a miracle, and she can do great things for C.I.T”

“For C.I.T…” he echoed, shocked that his wife could take such a laid-back approach to the situation. “We should have waited.”

“For what exactly?” Nora knew she got her temper from her mother, the impatience streak that coursed through her veins.

“Until she was old enough to make the decision for herself. It should have been her choice.”

“And what if she had said no?”

“Then that would have been her _choice,_ Maria. We had a child so we could be a family, not so we could use her. Go get one of those monkeys from the animal testing facility if that’s what you want but I won’t let you hurt our daughter anymore.”

At ten years old, Nora cried silently into her pillow at the sound of the door slamming, knowing her father had walked out. She always wondered if her father would come back, hugging him in relief when she’d wake up the next morning and find him sitting at the breakfast table.

Her mother had listened to his threat and the experiments stopped. For a while anyway. Her father’s body was still warm in his grave when her mother was dragging her to the lab. He was gone, there was no one to protect her anymore, and her mother had taken it upon herself to do with her daughter whatever she wanted. Finlay having her honestly think she was doing the right thing.

Only after her mother’s death had Nora realised how right her father was and even to this day she wondered whether her mother wanted a daughter at all, or if she just wanted a human test subject.

Her grandmother had been a scientist before she retired, an extremely powerful investor in C.I.T and Nora often wondered if she had subjected her mother to the same thing when she was growing up. It wasn’t something they ever discussed. 

\----

Kellogg was less than twenty yards away from the relay point when some scientist stopped him, informing him Harrogate wanted a word. He supposed it came with the position of authority, getting a lackey to do all the dirty work because, god forbid, Harrogate step foot outside of his office.

“You sent for me,” he grunted when he was back in the man’s office. His voice was stern, unamused and he tried his best not to make his distain too noticeable. 

“Kellogg?” Harrogate feigned surprise at the mercenary’s presence and Kellogg wanted to punch that smug look off his face. “Oh yes…how is she?”

Kellogg shrugged, sincerely because he didn’t exactly ask her.

“About as well as anyone in her position, I guess.”

Harrogate’s desk was covered in paperwork, he sighed and ran his hand through his ageing hair.

“I wish they’d put in her file that she was going to be difficult.”

“Can you blame her?” He asked rhetorically, before tensing when he realised his slip. He’d essentially just talked back to the guy in charge, and in any line of work that was not a good move.

Harrogate throws daggers at him.

“Remember your place here, Kellogg.”

If there was ever a man asking for a knife in his back…

“My place isn’t here,” he retorted, all sense of self preservation gone. “It’s up there,” he points to the ceiling. “So, if you’ll excuse me…”

He turned to head out the door and stopped at the sound of Harrogate getting up from his seat.

“I need your help, Kellogg.”

_Don’t you always?_

“It’s clear she’s not going to listen to me so I need you to help convince her to let us use her son.”

“Grow a pair,” the words came out before he had a chance to stop them and ultimately he decided he regretted nothing.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

Harrogate walked towards him, like an animal stalking its prey. Kellogg folded his arms across his chest and straightened his back. _I’d like to see you try_ screamed his stance and Harrogate noticeable recoils at the sheer size of him. Like a rat going against a snake.

“She’s not going to take any ‘woe is me’ bullshit, so if you want her _that_ badly then do it yourself. She’s not going to come running to you, no matter how many people you use to talk to her, so grow a pair and go talk to her.”

Harrogate stuttered wordlessly for a moment before scurrying back to his desk like the coward Kellogg knows he is. Kellogg, not for the first time in his life, found himself stuck in the middle of a game of cat and mouse, or at least a mouse that thinks he’s a cat. A stubborn woman and a dickhead scientist…Kellogg knew it wasn’t going to end well but internally put a bet on who he thought would come out on top.

A pissed off mother trumps almost everything.

He wasn’t too worried about job security, he knew the Institute wouldn’t get rid of him, after all who else would they hire to do their dirty work, and even if they did, he was a mercenary, sure anyone else wouldn’t pay as well but there was no shortage of people looking to hire a killer. 

It wasn’t exactly on the way (though with the layout of the place, you could walk past everything if you were so inclined), it would be quicker for him to cut through the lobby but his feet were more interested in taking him the longer route. The route that took him right past her room.

The door was still open and he felt the sudden urge to close it. He leant forward, his feet still in the safety of the hallway, and caught sight of her in the corner of his eye. She didn’t make a sound and Kellogg wondered if she was dead, until she rolled  over onto her back and he guessed she was just a quiet sleeper. 

His eyes then fell on the bundle of blankets on her bed and, without much control, he stepped into the room. Carefully he crept towards her bed, the wrinkly mess made a noise, squirmed a little, and fearing she might squash him, Kellogg gathered the kid up to put him in his crib.

His eyes opened as soon as he was in Kellogg’s arms and they locked eyes with each other as Kellogg walked across the room. He placed the kid gently down in the crib, rearranging the blankets so he didn’t suffocate and finalised his decision.

Harrogate could threaten and bitch as much as he wanted, Kellogg wasn’t going to help him with anything. He couldn’t prevent what happened to his daughter, couldn’t stop her from feeling pain and torment, but he was determined to help at least one kid. He looked over at Nora’s sleeping body and knew, that between them, this kid wasn’t going to come to any harm.

\----

Nora woke in a panic, partly due to the dream she’d had but mostly because she felt like something was missing. She opened her eyes and scrambled on the bed. Shaun was gone. She was panicking, about to run out of the room and kill someone, when a soft coo from behind her caused indescribable relief to wash over her.

She practically ran to his crib, curious as to how he got in there in the first place and to make sure no one had secretly taken him during the night. She carefully unwrapped the blankets from around him and begun to pull faces at him as she unbuttoned his onesie. He gurgled a laugh when she blew a raspberry on his exposed belly. 

Nora checked over every inch of him and, satisfied no one had touched him, changed his diaper before redressing him. He wriggled as she picked him up before nuzzling his face against her chest.

“So, wanna tell me how you managed to get in your crib?” She asked and swore he actually giggled at her question, as though he wouldn’t tell her even if he could. “Okay, keep your secret.”

Her finger played with the collar of his onesie as she walked, once again, around the room. Nora was used to being alone, even with dozens of people around her she felt like she was on her own (the only sane one) but the Institute was new to her, unfamiliar, and she found herself wishing she had someone else there with her. Anyone.

Nora was in the shower, half-way through washing the soap off her body, when she heard someone walk into her room. She ran out of the shower, grabbed the nearest towel to cover her soaking wet body and almost tripped over her feet when she saw who was in her room.

“Morning,” he grunted. Nora’s eyes were fixated on the baby, _her_ baby, that was in his arms.

Kellogg looked up at her, his eyes widening and his mouth dropping slightly when he realised what she was wearing. Or wasn’t wearing.

“Morning,” she replied cautiously, not sure why he was in her room and even less sure as to why he was holding her son. She’d thought the same thing when she saw him holding Shaun yesterday, being a father seemed to come naturally to him, it suited him.

“Did Harrogate send you to interrogate me?”

A breath caught in her throat when he chuckled; it was a sound that shot through her. It reminded her of when she first met Roger, when every muscle in her body screamed for him.

“Kinda but actually I thought you might be hungry.” He glanced down at the kid in his arms. “Door was open, heard him fussing, sorry if it aint okay.”

What Kellogg was neglecting to tell her was that he was walking past her room with the intension to check in on him. On both of them. 

“Oh, no, it’s fine.”

She looked at how comfortable her son was in his arms and her heart fell at the knowledge his father would never get that privilege. He’d never hear him say his first word, wouldn’t be around to help him learn to walk, or witness anything else that came with watching your child grow up. 

She looked at Kellogg in hope, hope that he would help save her son from madness. Hell, save both of them from it.

Nora started to feel cold and realised she was stood in nothing but a towel. She turned back towards the bathroom before remembering his words and stopped. 

“Wait,” her brow furrowed as she turned around to look at him. “What do you mean ‘kinda’?”

“He’s asked me to help convince you to let them use your son.”

Nora's eyes widened in surprise, not that Harrogate had said it, but because Conrad admitted to it so freely.

“Is that why you’re asking me to get breakfast, because Harrogate asked you to?” Her hands were supporting her towel, more aware of her lack of clothing and the fact she was _naked_ underneath.

“I don’t always do what people tell me to, you know.”

“Coming from a mercenary,” she muttered and they shared a slight laugh.

“S’pose you got a point.” Kellogg stood from the chair. “But I really did come here with the intention of getting the kid, and you, at least fed. If you think it’ll be awkward now, it’s no big deal.”

“I could eat. Just, uh, let me get dressed first?” His eyes fell down to her towel and he quickly turned away. Nora swore she could see him blush but it was gone as quickly as it appeared.

“So, how long are you gonna make him wait?” He asked.

Kellogg had just finished giving her a tour, one she knew she didn’t need because the layout was exactly the same as it had been over a hundred and fifty years ago. 

“I haven’t decided yet.”

All eyes were on her and Shaun the moment they stepped into the cafeteria. Nora used Conrad’s large stature to her advantage and did her best to hide her son from prying eyes. A few people went to move towards her but stopped when they noticed the stern look on the mercenary’s face.

Nora followed him when he walked over to the counter, picked up a tray and joined the forming queue.

“What the hell is this?” She asked, staring at the brown packet that was put on her tray.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” spoke the synth behind the counter. “Is our food not to your liking?”

“No, no, it’s fine, I guess.” She supposed, after the world blowing up, regular food would be too much to ask for. 

“You get used to it eventually,” commented Kellogg as he sat down at an empty table. He watched Nora struggle to keep hold of her son and open her food packet. “Here,” he leant forward to open the box for her.

“Thank you,” she smiled. “Suppose I should just be grateful there’s still such a thing as food.”

Though how they could classify the thing in front of her as food was beyond her. 

“Better than the radiated shit they have on the surface.”

There was a shift in the air then, a deep silence descended upon them and Nora stared down at the ‘food’ in front of her. Her eyes were looking at it, but her brain was somewhere else. She almost felt bad for not having asked sooner but Shaun’s safety was more important than anything. Now he'd brought up the subject (sort of) it was her chance.

“What’s it like? Up there, I mean.”

Kellogg doesn’t get the question often, most people already know what it’s like or don’t care. He’s never been one for sugar coating, hardly sees the point of it, and he knows she’s tough enough to handle it. Besides, considering what humanity did to itself, it’s not that bad really.

“Hard. For the most part humans are still at odds with each other. You’ve got your raiders, which I suppose you would have called rioters.” His voice ends an octave higher, a question lingering on his tongue. She nodded to tell him she understood the concept. “Gunners are similar but closer to an army than a bunch of idiots, they’re organised.”

He paused for a moment, just to let the information sink in, before moving on.

“Not everyone died during the War, we call ‘em ghouls and there are two kinds; feral ghouls are those whose brains have been destroyed by the radiation, aint no humanity left in ‘em. The other kind are just like us really, just look _almost_ like ferals but not quite, I think it’s in their eyes.”

_Eyes are the window to the soul_. Her father always used to say.

“Most of them are cool though, some formed a group known as the ‘Triggermen’ - basically old world gangsters but they tend to keep to ‘emselves.”

Her eyes were wide, her mouth slightly open and she stared at him.

“Anything else?” Her voice hesitant, almost terrified of the answer.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” he grunted, knowing that talking about a Deathclaw right now might be a step too far for her right now. She’d probably have nightmares about one crashing through her room.

There’s a mixture of emotions on her face. The surprise of his tone, the confusion of his statement and that almost smug look that told him she would agree for now but the discussion was by no means over.

“Anything I need to worry about _down here_?” She asked, moving the conversation in a different direction. “Besides Harrogate?”

“You don’t need to worry about him, trust me.” And for some reason, she did. “And everyone else looks at you like you’re their next messiah. For decades, the Institute have kept to the agreement that your safety was more important than anything.”

“Yeah, and now everyone thinks it’s because I fucked Finlay and he’s Shaun’s father.”

A few scientists sat around them flinched at her curse and Kellogg breathlessly chuckled with a shake of his head, for some reason proud of her.

“He’s not by the way and I didn’t,” she shuddered at the idea and this time successfully pushed down the image. She wasn’t entirely sure why she felt the need to justify herself to him, though a part of her was hoping a few of the eavesdropping scientists would hear her, and then word would spread. Blue eyes flashed in her mind’s eyes and her eyelids fluttered. “I’ve never really been into scientists.”

Kellogg chocked on the (poor excuse for) food in his mouth, with his face turning red, he reached for a glass of water.

Nora’s mind came out of its trance and she got up slightly in her chair to hit Kellogg on his back. His throat eventually gave and allowed him to swallow, he coughed once more before getting a sip of water.

“You know that’s actually really dangerous,” he cleared his throat, two fingers rubbing on his trachea as he willed the colour in his face to die down.

“Worked, didn’t it?” She shrugged and started playing with her food.

Her eyes were drawn to the, to be honest she wasn’t sure what it was, sat on a nearby table. Her face put Picasso to shame.

“Conrad, what the hell is that?” She had enough sense to whisper. He gave a quick look in the direction her eyes were pointing and leant forward.

“She’s the Institute’s first attempt at gen. threes.”

She tutted and shook her head, returning to play with her food. They both knew she wasn’t going to eat it.

“Like I said, it’s in the genes.” She eventually relented playing with her food, put her fork down and pushed the tray away. “Bring me back some real food when you go to the surface next time, will you? Is sugar still a thing?”

“You can find it in a _few_ places, though I don’t imagine it’s anything like it used to be. Tell you what though, next time I’ll take you with me and you can see it for yourself.” Her eyes lit up at the prospect. “But you gotta go see Harrogate first.”

“Oh, that’s dirty.” She folded her arms and pouted slightly but Kellogg could see the glint in her eye, the tweak of her eyebrow and the twitch of her mouth. She was proud of him really.

She thought it over for less than a second, now she could make both of them wait, and see which one of them caved in first. After all, they made her wait a hundred and fifty years, she was nothing if not patient. 

“Deal.”

She held out a hand for him to shake and despite moving to reciprocate, he couldn’t help but feel like it was going to come back to kick him in the ass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't intentionally go out to make seem Nora's mother seem heartless but it sort of just went that way. I'm sure I'll explore why later on...maybe.
> 
> Thanks for reading =]


	4. Titanium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora and Kellogg continue to bond, and flirt with each other. Compromises are made and truths are revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been preoccupied with a new idea for another original fic and have pretty much neglected everything else I've written.
> 
> It took a while to get this chapter in the direction I needed it to go. Though to be honest this is just a way for me to lead into the next chapter, because I wrote that before I wrote most of this.
> 
> So yeah, for everyone who thought I'd given up on this, I haven't!

“I got a question for you,” Kellogg stated when Nora opened the door.

“You always do,” she responded, turning around to sit down on the nearby chair.

Nora smiled when his eyes popped out, having realised he’d disturbed her whilst breastfeeding Shaun. Served him right.

Every day for the past week he’d come by to ask her a random question, sometimes it was about herself, sometimes it was something ridiculous involving the weather. She had yet to go to Harrogate’s office, he had yet to come to her, and whilst he wasn’t saying it out loud as such, she knew he was trying to push her towards Harrogate, possibly for his own sense of peace.

He eventually stopped needing to knock, she could tell it was him just by his shadow, and it wasn’t like anyone else came to see her - save the occasional gen. two that came to her door with food. 

Being in the cafeteria had become difficult, now Conrad wasn’t around to protect her, she and Shaun were usually swarmed by scientists and residence alike, all wanting a good eyeful. Eating in her room had become the safer option.

“Not like that, a _real_ question this time.” He explained as he walked into the room. It had become easier to step over the threshold, it didn’t feel like a safety line so much anymore.

“Really?” She raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m intrigued.”

“Your arm.” He gestured with a thrust of his chin. “How’d it happen?”

“That’s a bit personal, isn’t it?”

“Touching a man’s pistol is a bit personal, aint it?”

Nora snorted, having to cradle the back of Shaun’s neck when she accidentally disturbed him. She wasn’t sure what was funnier, the innuendo in his words, or the fact that it was lost on him.

She looked down at her arm, it was always funny to think that underneath the skin was nothing but metal and wires.

“Assassination attempt,” she began.

“Someone tried to kill _you_?” Kellogg knew what that was like, plenty of people tried to kill him on a regular basis but they all had a reason to. But, for the life of him, Kellogg couldn’t find a single reason - didn’t even know where to start - as to why someone would want to kill her. Surely they could just pick her up and shake her to death…

“Not exactly. People were on edge, the world was a few years away from killing itself and there were a lot of anti-war protestors. Those living in Boston didn’t take too kindly to the idea of C.I.T supporting the war and Finlay always liked his press-conferences, _loved_ seeing his face on the tv.”

“So, how did you end up being the one hurt?”

“Do you know what happens when you mix an alkali metal with water?” she asked.

Kellogg shook his head. He had a degree in killing, not chemistry.

“Boom.” She whispered, mimicking an explosion with her free hand. “One particular protestor managed to get into the science labs, came across my experiment and decided it was a really good idea to chuck a bottle of water into it. Reaction time was less than two seconds, just enough time for me to walk back into the room and for him to leave it.”

“What experiment?” Kellogg was genuinely curious.

“A persuasion grenade.” He looked confused and Nora decided to elaborate. “We were trying to find the sound pitch that caused people to become passive and compliant. I,  _personally_ , wanted it to be used with caution, only in certain situations that required it. Then other people got involved.”

Finlay sent countless people to check up on her, all under the guise of being interested in her work. 

“Let’s just say people stopped questioning me after it happened. Woke up three weeks later to see metal where my arm should’ve been.”

“So, your skin…”

“Oh, no. I mean, I know that’s what the long term goal was, but it’s not synthetic. They made skin grafts using my DNA and eventually it grew around it. Hang on a sec,”

She stood up and gently unlatched Shaun from her, rubbing his back once she had him over her shoulder. A quiet burp left him and she settled him down in his cot. She readjusted her bra, covering herself up, and buttoned up her shirt before turning back around to continue her conversation.

She held up her arm horizontally between them and began to roll up the sleeve of her shirt. Kellogg visibly stiffened when he realised what she was suggesting.

“Bit personal, aint it?” He asked, still taking a step forward and raising his own arm.

He started at her fingers, her hand wasn’t as cold as he had been expecting. Her skin was soft, sure as hell felt like the real thing, but underneath it was something hard, about ten times harder than bone.

“Well, I did waste your load.” He looked up at her, a cheeky eyebrow raised. “So, you _do_ have a sense of humour. Good to know.”

He turned her arm slightly as he took hold of her wrist, the veins underneath looked too realistic to be fake. He pressed his finger against her pulse and felt it beat.

“Radius bone is now just a titanium rod,” she narrated as his hand began to feel up her forearm. “Same for the ulna.” He reached her elbow and she laughed. “Sorry, hits a nerve every now and then.”

“And it makes you ticklish?”

“Yeah,” she shrugged. “My elbow joint is just a ‘sophisticated’ metal hinge. And another, larger, titanium rod makes up my humerus. Ow,” she added when he squeezed her bicep just a little too tight.

He had done that because, a) he was still checking that everything else about her arm was real - human - and b) he was sure she shouldn’t be as muscular as she was. Bloody didn’t look like she was from far away, but even Kellogg had to admit he was impressed. It also made him want to feel her other arm just to make sure she wasn’t having him on.

“Shoulder joints all me.”

“Lucky your arm was the only thing you lost.” He stated once he was stood up straight, his hands clasped behind the safety of his back.

“You sound like Finlay,” she said in distaste, though she was smiling. “The rest of me didn’t fair that well, you know.”

“Really?” His arms moved to fold in front of him. Kellogg wasn’t an idiot, he knew a challenge when he saw one coming. “Go on then, show me what you got.”

“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours?” She offered, the crafty smile was back.

“Deal.” 

Before Kellogg knew it, her shirt was on the floor and she was moving to show him the burn mark that trailed down her left side, it moved down past the top of her jeans. 

“Ends at my thigh. These,” she turned around to show him her back, dozens of tiny pink scars were dotted over her shoulder blade, “are from beakers exploding.”

She turned back around to find Kellogg stood still. 

“Your turn."

Kellogg had a moment of inner turmoil before peeling his own shirt off. He’d been caught in worse situations than this by the people in charge of him. On second thought, he probably hadn’t because even being in her room was going to be seen as sacrilege.

Nora actually felt her pupils dilate. Jesus Christ, it had been a while since she’d seen someone so… _toned_. He was covered in scars - knife wounds, surgical, bullet holes. His job title was written all over him.

“ _You’re_  lucky you’re not dead.” She stated, braving a step forward and tracing her fingers over one particular scar that caught her attention.

Of course she had to pick that scar, the scar he got avenging the death of his family - the family he never deserved - and he knew she was going to ask him what he got it.

Every scar tells a story. Roger had a few and, over time, she knew how he got every single one. The scar across Kellogg’s chest intrigued her, it was a clean cut, had healed well, but she could feel the anger radiating from it, he’d obviously got it during something serious. And judging by the discomfort she could read on him, it was something he didn’t want to talk about. She could understand that and chose not to push. At least not yet, they were still getting to know each other.

“Have you ever heard of ballistic weave?” she asked as she peeled her fingers off him.

“Have you ever been told you’re incredibly stubborn?” he retorted, ignoring her question.

“Countless times. I’m led to believe it’s my best quality.”

Kellogg closed his eyes and groaned. Time to try a different route.

“I know Harrogate’s a total whelp, but he’s just doing what _your_ boss told him to do.”

“I do know that but what you, and everyone else, need to realise is that up there, I was a scientist, down here, I’m a mother. There is nothing more important to me than bonding with my son. Rescuing me from the Vault seemed to be in your favour because it was assumed I would agree without question, then I’m reminded that this whole place just wants to stick a bunch of needles in _my son_. Shaun doesn’t leave my side until I’m convinced no one plans to experiment on him.”

She was getting angrier and her voice grew louder. Kellogg took a step forward, covering her in his shadow in the hopes that it would throw her enough to shut her up for a second. He hid his surprise when it worked.

“First of all, I _do_ realise that, better than anyone.” Kellogg knew the lengths a mother would go to in order to protect their children, his own felt pain so he didn’t have to. “Secondly, it wasn’t in _my_ ‘favour’ at all, I was just doing my job.”

He repeated her own words back to her. 

“Lastly, I agree. A kid needs to be with their mother, and I’m not gonna let anyone touch him.”

There was a brief glimpse of shock and surprise before a smile spread over her face.

Nora could tell that he didn’t have a high opinion of the Institute, and the people inside it, and she already had a feeling he was in her corner. It was nice to hear it out loud though.

“I’m not going to his office, but I _will_ go straight to the Robotics department.” She submitted, with a compromise.

“I’ll walk you there, you know, just in case.”

“Thanks.”

The walk to Robotics was quiet, but comfortable. Kellogg kept a respectable distance - there were eyes everywhere - but as soon as it looked as though someone was about to approach Nora, he quickly stepped in front and shot them a glare that had them running in the other direction.

Kellogg always got a sick kick out of watching the fear on their faces. There was a reason he had the reputation he did. 

It didn’t go unnoticed by Nora that it was what he was doing; just as it wasn’t lost on Kellogg that she cradled Shaun closer to her chest every time someone went near them.

Kellogg could see where she was coming from. Hell, the only reason he kept pushing her towards Harrogate was because he wanted to keep the peace. He couldn’t deny that he was drawn to Nora, but Harrogate was determined to pull him in the other direction. One minute it was 'don't go anywhere near her' then it was 'get on her good side.' Kellogg was losing track of what people wanted from him.

Nora paused at the door, her eyes glued to the Robotics sign hanging above.

“You okay?” asked Kellogg when he realised she was frozen in place. He stepped closer to her, already knowing that if she _was_ going to tell him, she wasn’t going to say it too loudly.

“Back when C.I.T. was, well, you know,  _C.I.T_ , this department was called ‘Mechanical Engineering’.” She began. “My father used to run it, before he died.”

“Oh.” Kellogg wasn’t sure how to react to that. He couldn’t even begin to empathise with her. Dad probably died decades ago, at Mom’s hands or alcohol, he wasn’t sure. Either way, Kellogg would rather piss on his grave than shed a single tear over him. “I’m sorry.”

“No point apologising for something that isn’t your fault,” shrugged Nora. “Who runs ‘Robotics’ anyway?”

“Dr. Freeman is the current Head. But about four other people work under her.”

“What’s her first name?” she asked curiously, she recognised that surname.

“Lorelai.”

“Huh,” she breathed. Loralai is pretty close to Lorraine.

Kellogg raised an eyebrow in question. Mostly because the look of curiosity on her face quickly changed to disgust and she shook her head.

“What’s up?”

“It’s not as though I’m surprised that people have the same surnames as the people I knew, it’s just…aren’t people worried about their kids having six fingers and twelve toes?” She shuddered at the mental image.

Kellogg couldn’t help but chuckle. Nora was certainly unique.

“You ready?” Nora took a deep breath, hugged Shaun just that little bit closer (Kellogg was starting to worry she was going to suffocate the kid) and nodded.

Evidently medical evaluations hadn't changed much in a hundred and fifty years. 

They had plenty of her old files, and lots of questions for her to answer. She was through page twenty of fifty, and all but losing her patience. 

She put down the questionnaire, needing a break.

“Problem?” asked Kellogg, moving to sit down next to her.

“These people certainly like to cover yourselves.” And she hadn’t even reached the questions about Shaun.

“That they do. I remember when I filled mine out, felt they might as well have stuck their finger in my ass.”

Nora laughed, covering her mouth when she accidentally snorted. The corners of Kellogg’s mouth twitched. 

Nora’s eyes flittered around the room to look at the scientists busy working. Some of them resembled the people she knew. Once she was comfortable, maybe she would tell them stories about their ancestors one day.

“And half of them are completely ridiculous,” she turned back to one particular question that had taken her by surprise. “‘Have you ever performed a sexual act with a non-human, i.e a super mutant or a ghoul?’ I didn’t even know what a ghoul was until a week ago.”

She huffed and turned to the questions she had yet to answer.

“Plus, it seems like a pointless question to ask people who have spent their entire lives underground.”

Kellogg cleared his throat. “Speak for yourself.”

“Speaking of which,” she began, officially distracted from the questions she had to answer. “We had a deal. You have to take me up there.”

“I believe our deal was that you would go see Harrogate first.”

“Oh, come on!” she whined in jest. “I compromised by coming _here_ and I’ve spent the last hour answering every question that has ever existed…”

Nora trailed off and went back to the questionnaire, she and it weren’t going anywhere.

Kellogg was confused by the sudden silence and her willingness to continue, but after a few minutes he got used it to. That’s when she decided to speak again.

“Besides, we both know how much it would piss Harrogate off if you took Shaun and I out of here.” She said wistfully, not taking her attention away from the paper.

“Look whose playing dirty now,” he smiled.

Another hour later and she was finally done. She pushed it away, feeling a sense of relief and accomplishment.

The young doctor who had been stood close to them strolled over to pick up the clipboard.

“Thank you, Miss Pendleton.” 

Nora smiled. Finally, word was getting around that she wasn’t related to Finlay. At least Harrogate had done something whilst he was busy hiding from her.

“Call me Nora.”

“I’m sorry, Miss Pendleton, Director Harrogate has instructed that we speak formerly to you.”

“Well, Harrogate’s an asshole.” The young doctor looked at her in horror, Kellogg stifled a laugh and Nora’s expression remained completely neutral. “So, please, call me Nora.”

“Okay…Nora.” She looked visibly uncomfortable at having to say it, though there was a glint in her eye. As if she saw it as some act of rebellion.

“Please give me a moment to put your data in the computer and I’ll be right back.”

“I see what you mean,” she said as the doctor walked away. “I _do_ feel like I’ve just been probed.”

“Told ya.”

Ten minutes later the young doctor returned.

“Miss- _Nora_ ,” she stuttered and Nora had to smile. Old habits die hard. “There is one question left to ask you.”

“Seriously? I’m pretty sure you know everything about me.”

“Actually, it’s about your son,” her eyes flickered to Shaun, who was still wrapped in her arms. “We don’t include it in the original form because we normally get it from the birth certificate, but your son’s isn’t on file.”

No, it wasn’t. She refused to let Finlay put it in C.I.T’s database. It _was_ here somewhere though, and it would take Nora a while to remember the path. She couldn’t leave it on the surface, she couldn’t risk something happening to it.

“What did you need to know?” she asked, already having an inkling.

“Who his father is.”

Nora’s breath stopped in her throat. She knew it was what they needed to know, she _had_ been paying attention to the questions and it hadn’t escape her that they asked nothing about Shaun’s bloodline.

She hadn’t said his name out loud for a long time. Because part of her still hurt when she did.

She looked down at Conrad's arm as he stretched over the table to grab a bottle of water.

Nora sighed. Time to rip the bandaid off. She looked down at her baby in her arms, smiling softly before she leant forward to place a delicate kiss on his forehead. She didn’t take her eyes off Shaun as she spoke, it would be his first time hearing his name too. Even if he couldn’t comprehend anything she was saying.

“His name is Roger. Roger Maxson.”

Nora’s hand instinctively covered Shaun when she heard a loud noise and less than a second later, water sprayed over all of them. She turned to see Kellogg choking in an effort to breathe. His face was red, his eyes wide and he looked at her in complete shock.

_Are you fucking kidding me?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've been paying attention it shouldn't shock you all that much who Shaun's father is.
> 
> As always. Thanks for reading xx


	5. When Nora Met Roger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora remembers how she and Roger first met.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hadn't planned to update for a while but like I said at the end of the last chapter this has been written down for a while now.

2076 was a big year for C.I.T, Vault 76 was being unveiled to the public - Finlay had described it as the ‘control’ Vault - and West Tek were unveiling their version of the very first power armour suit at Anchorage. Any C.I.T scientistic would argue that they came up with the prototype first but at least West Tek had done it with the country in mind. 

Her mother and father were long gone by then, nuclear material eventually exacting revenge of her mother whilst her father’s demise was up for debate. Finlay had more or less taken her under ‘his wing’ and had brought her with him when he went to scout out the ‘competition’.

That was where they met. 

Eyes were on her the second she stepped onto the ground. Maybe it had something to do with the old man scientist in front of her, or the six foot brick-shithouse trailing behind her - the bodyguard Finlay suggested she have after both her parents were gone.

It wasn’t just a big deal to science, it was a big deal to every military official in America and it would certainly make the enemy think twice about attacking. She recognised Colonel Spindel first, it had been over ten years since she’d met him but he didn’t look any different.

“Colonel.” Finlay outstretched a hand for him to shake because he knew he had to play nice.

“Doctor.” Spindle looked reluctant but shook his hand regardless. 

“You remember Nora, Maria’s daughter?”

His eyed widened, not believing that the woman in front of him and the little girl who was too scared to look him in the eye were the same person.

“Well, I’ll be,” he half shook her hand and half hugged her, it was an awkward position she found herself in and she knew Finlay wasn’t too happy about the Colonel showing more enthusiasm towards her than Spindel did him.

He released her, stood more comfortably. “Maxson, front and centre!”

Out of the small group of soldiers one merged at a slight run. He stood dead when he reached the Colonel, his feet and legs locked together, one arm glued to his side whilst the other saluted them all, before he stuck it to his side.

“This is Roger Maxson, my second-in-command,” he patted the man on the shoulder. “Best I could ask for,” the younger of the two men smiled appreciatively.

“Roger, this is Nora Pendleton.”

Their eyes met and it felt like time stood still. His eyes were blue, blue like the clearest ocean. His pupils acting like the whirlpool she would happily swim into and let consume her.

He blinked once and then smiled, it was crooked but still beautiful, “Ma’am,” he tapped the top of his cap at her.

“Call me Nora,” she said softly. She reached out a hand for him to shake and a lump formed in her throat as he took hold and leaned to kiss the back of it. A stuttered breath left her, one that went unnoticed by the rest of them but not the man in front of her.

The wink he shot her shook her to her very core.

Her mother was a bit of a fantasist, a big believer in love at first sight. _When I met your father, Nora, I just knew. From the second I met him, I knew I was going to spend my life with him. We zinged._

It hadn’t happened how she’d imagined it would as a young girl. There was no obvious ‘zinging’ but she definitely felt it. She was captured.

“Roger.”

Completely surrounded by multiple armies, Finlay had relaxed, so had her damn bodyguard, and she slyly tried to make her way over to Roger. Evidently, he’d been trying to do the same thing because they ‘accidentally’ bumped into each other quicker than she'd been expecting.

Their shoulders met, then parted but the rest of them stayed close to each other. Fighting the urge to stay far enough away not to raise any eyebrows but also press against each other. Their chance came during the big unveiling. It was big moment for a lot of people, it might have factored in on what happened, but she doubted it.

Even to this day she’s not sure who actually made the first move. The two of them had argued about it a lot, in jest of course, and it was ultimately decided that Roger moved his hand to brush against hers, she cupped them, and together, they laced their fingers. When it happened her heart was pounding hard in her chest, her breath was ragged and she felt her knees buckle just a little. His grip tightened as if he noticed.

It was small, something that wouldn’t exactly go in the x-rated column of first meetings but it was the most intimate experience she’d had with a man. She’d had sex before of course, she’d been the typical rebellious teenager but there was never any feeling behind it.

The show was over, the spectacle stood alone on stage being marvelled at by hundreds of people. T-51b Power Armour. Even Finlay had to admit it was impressive, not quite as _‘aesthetically pleasing as our X-01’._ In her opinion the helmet on C.I.T’s prototype looked like something out of a kids tv programme.

“You know, we were there when they were building it,” his voice was soft in her ear, his breath warm against her neck. “Lots of bitching about C.I.T going on.”

“Doesn’t surprise me,” she whispered. “C.I.T engineers do the same about West Tek. Even though they’re all essentially working towards the same goal.”

“It’s what happens when money gets involved.”

“Yeah, all bets are off.”

All too quickly their superiors were beckoning them in opposite directions. She started shaking when he leaned in towards her, a faltered sigh leaving her when he kissed her cheek.

“It was nice to meet you, Nora,” he squeezed her hand. She could feel Finlay’s eyes burning into the back of her head but she didn’t care. Whether it was a real thing or not, they’d zinged.

“It was nice to meet you too, Roger.” His teeth grazed his lip at the sound of his name in her voice. He looked like he wanted to devour her, and a big part of her wanted to let him.

Finlay was wittering on about something, rules and regulations probably, but her head was in the clouds. He was a military man, stationed at West Tek Research Lab, she was a lowly scientist stuck in Boston. Of course she would ‘zing’ with a man who was essentially unreachable, literally stationed on the other side of the country. 

Two days later, when she was back in C.I.T, a lettered arrived. She eyed it cautiously, not recognising the handwriting on the front. Her heart leapt into her throat when her gaze fell on the West Tek symbol on the back of the envelope. She was careful not to damage its contents when she tore it open.

_Nora_

_It seems our meeting was a little short-lived, fancy extending it?_

_I hear West-Tek is having an opening day…maybe you could convince that team of bodyguards of yours to let you check it out._

_September 24th, I’ll be waiting._

_Roger._

It was short, straight to the point, like only a soldier would write, but her heart fluttered all the same. She chuckled when she internally approved of his penmanship. She hadn’t stopped thinking about him since she’d been dragged away from him, his face being the last thing she’d see before falling asleep, blue eyes tearing into her soul every time she woke up. 

He must have felt it too, why else would he take the time to write to her?

Ever since the death of her parents, she didn’t venture outside of C.I.T very often, not alone at least. The only way she was going to be able to see him again was to persuade Finlay they _needed_ to go to West Tek’s opening day. She smiled when she realised she knew exactly how to do that, Finlay feared and envied any other organisation that had something C.I.T didn’t and just the chance of West Tek unveiling something that hadn’t been publicly advertised would eat away at him long enough to convince him they had no choice. They _had_ to go. 

Spindel and Finlay did the obligatory handshake, filled with hatred, and she was scanning for Roger's face the second they stepped foot on the ground. She found him eventually, mainly because it was impossible for those blue eyes to belong to anyone else and they were staring right at her.

She felt it, it was coming and there was no stopping it. She didn’t want to. Her body lunged forward, her legs pushing her as she ran to him, completely aware that everyone was looking but she didn’t care. 

She witnessed his hesitation as he fought to keep himself in formation but she didn’t stop running. Her smile widened and her legs picked up their pace when she saw him give in and outstretch his arms for her to land in.

She did. She crashed her chest against his, barely faltering, as her arms wrapped around his neck, almost automatically as if they’d always belonged there. Roger’s arms crossed behind her back and pushed her further into him - to the point she almost couldn’t breathe - and he buried his face in the crook of her neck. He breathed like he was inhaling her scent, not that she could blame him because it was exactly what she was doing.

Gunpowder, an earthy smell - like freshly cut grass, a faint hint of chemicals she guessed had come from being stationed at West Tek, and something that was so beautiful she couldn’t pin down what it was. It was just _him_.

They stayed that way until Spindel cleared his throat and Roger placed her gently back down on the ground. His hands ran down her sides as he stepped back, clearing his throat.

“Ma’am,” he tipped his hat at her and she smiled, her teeth catching on her bottom lip slightly and she saw his eyes watch the gesture.

“At ease, soldier,” offered Spindel. Roger sighed and didn’t hesitate to take hold of her hand. “So, this is why you were so eager to work the perimeter today?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And _this_ is why you wanted to come here?” Finlay’s voice was somewhere behind her, full of anger and shock.

“Fuck yeah,” it comes out in a breath, her eyes never leaving the beautiful man in front of her. Finlay stuttered at her curse. The corner’s of Roger’s mouth twitched.

“If living on opposite sides of the country doesn’t stop you, it’s no business of mine what a soldier does in his spare time. As long as it doesn’t affect your abilities.”

Roger nodded in response, the official words laced underneath understood perfectly.

“What would your mother say?”

She turned around to look at him this time, shocked but not surprised that he’d have the audacity to act like he knew anything about her mother.

“She’d be happy I zinged.” The confused look on his face only confirmed that he didn’t know her mother at all. She looked at Roger when she felt him squeeze her hand.

“We’ll talk about this when we get back to C.I.T.”

“Okay, I’ll see you there.” Just as Finlay went to pull at her shoulder, Roger moved her in front of her.

Finlay’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open.

“Colonel Spindel, will you ask your man to stand down?”

“I already did, he’s in his down time right now and far be it from me to stand in the way of a man defending his lady.”

Finlay was outnumbered and outgunned, he had no choice but to leave without her.

“Nora, I expect you to return before sundown.”

“You can expect anything you want, doesn’t mean you’re going to get it. I’ll come back when I’m good and ready.” Roger, and the rest of the team, went to walk her away from him. “Oh, and Finlay,” she turned to meet his eye, “if you _ever_ talk to me about my mother again, I will _burn_ you.”

He stopped fighting after that, because he knew she could. With everything she knew, everything her mother and father had known, she had enough to put C.I.T in the ground.

With hindsight, she could laugh at the irony of the whole thing.

Roger had been quick to move his arm to wrap around her shoulders, pulling her into his side and she happily placed a hand on his back, her arms too short to reach across the mass of his back and allow her hand to grasp his waist.

“Are you gonna get in trouble for that?” he whispered cautiously. She shook her head, feeling the fabric of his fatigues as she leant into him.

As far as Finlay was concerned, she was untouchable.

“I can feign ignorance for as long as I need to,” begun Spindel. “But if someone approaches me about the subject, I’m inclined to do something about it.”

She was barely paying attention, she was counting on her feet to keep her moving forward without falling over whilst her gaze was fixed to the young man beside her, her finger absent-mindedly stroking the back of the hand that hung over her shoulder.

“Of course, if you were to work here…there’s not a lot I can do to stop you.”

“Wait?” She peeled herself away from Roger, her pace picking up to meet up with the Colonel. “Are you saying that _if_ I got a job here, I wouldn’t have to leave?”

“It would be a temporary position of course, Davis will have my head if I inadvertently start a war between West Tek and C.I.T.”

And that was how she found herself working in West Tek for a week. The whole facility was sad to see her go, she’d made quite the impression, Spindel had told her and her involvement in their research would help hundreds of people. There was a huge crowd to see her climb onto the vertibird, each saying their goodbyes and hugging her, but they all broke away when Roger stepped forward to say his goodbye, mostly because Spindel had shot them a look that told them if they didn’t disperse, they’d be cleaning the latrine for a week. 

Their relationship moved fast, given the state of the world there was no room for slow, no time to waste wondering if she was doing the right thing. Not by seeing Roger, she knew that was the right thing, but she wasn’t sure if going back to C.I.T was the best thing for her. She didn’t have a lot of choice in the matter, C.I.T was the only family she knew.

Finlay was waiting at the door, standing as if he’d been there for the past week. He didn’t say a word, mostly because he knew she had no problem embarrassing him in front of his staff, but there was a look in his eyes. _We are going to talk about this_.

Two months of letter writing and the odd phone call here and there, she was starting to lose her mind. Any work she’d been assigned had suffered greatly, her sleep and ability to everyday function suffered too.

When he walked into her office in C.I.T for the first time she knew was lost to him.

Roger knew about Shaun, of course he did, but his career, and her ‘destiny’ had put them on different paths and they agreed their relationship couldn’t continue. She didn’t know at the time, only to find out three months later that she was pregnant and she rung him straightaway. Mostly because she didn’t know what to do. 

He was her strength, he knew that. The one thing in her life that didn’t involve science, or people telling her how incredible she and her parents were. _What do you want?_ It was his first question and she fell in love with him all over again for it. Her gut, quite possibly her womb, told her one thing but the idea of doing it alone was telling her something else. _You won’t be alone. I may not be there, but I’m in this with you. I will make time to speak to you every day and I will write to you constantly. Don’t ever think you’re alone, Nora, not whilst I’m still alive._

She hoped he was happy, in the end. Knowing him the way she did, she could determine without evidence that he survived the war. That man could survive anything. She also hoped he’d had the chance to do something great with his life, he was always destined for great things, she told him that constantly.

_People come and go from our lives all the time, friends are fleeting, but family? Family is forever, and they will never leave you._

\----  


Nora silently took the tissue the young doctor held out for her. She looked down at her hands in her lap before turning her attention to Shaun, who was currently being cradled by Conrad.

“It’s kind of why I’m so pissed about it being a hundred and fifty years.” She said sombrely to him. “I can’t help but think I might have found him if I’d only been frozen for a decade.”

Her attention was repeatedly put back on Shaun, a part of her hurt knowing he’d grow up to look exactly like him. She could see it already.

“I’m sorry I had to put you through that, Nora,” said the doctor genuinely.

“It’s okay. You just asked who his father is,” her hand reached up to run over the fair hair on Shaun’s head. “I was the one who turned it into a therapy session.”

Kellogg was barely paying attention to the kid in his arms. Don’t worry, he had a good grip on him, but his eyes were fixated on Nora. Just like always.

A part of him didn’t want her to see Harrogate. At least that way he had an excuse for spending so much time down here. Everyone knew he wasn’t exactly fond of the place.

It was the first time he’d seen her look vulnerable. Yet there was still an amazing strength radiating off her. 

Shaun moved and Kellogg’s gaze snapped to him. It was over as quickly as it started and he stayed still, soundly asleep, in Kellogg’s arms. Nora was right, he deserved to know who his dad was, even if Kellogg didn’t necessarily like, and/or agree, with the old man’s views.

The doctor left after noting down the important things and scheduling Nora for a blood test. If it were up to her, she would have done it there and then. She was used to people sticking needles in her. _Vampires, the bloody lot of you._

Nora let her mind wander into nothing as she stared at her son. The green onesie suited him more than the red and she smiled to herself at the pointless observation her brain made. It was crazy to think she’d made something so beautiful. With Roger’s assistance, of course.

“I think there’s somethin’ you’re gonna wanna see.” Kellogg grunted.

Nora raised an eyebrow at him. “Is this your way of saying you’ve caved and I get to go up top now?” she asked coyly, a cheeky smile echoing at the end of her question.

“No.” He hadn’t given up that easily. Nora was going to have to work a little harder if she wanted to go to the surface. “I thought you might wanna know what’s happened in the past century and a half. I think you might find something about his old man in there too,” he added, lifting Shaun slightly.

Nora’s eyes flicked between them in astonishment. Her mind couldn’t even begin to comprehend the possibility. Of course, a part of her was curious as to what happened, not just to Roger, but everyone else too. But did she really want to find out when he died? She didn’t even know if that information was there, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to take the risk.

Then she looked at Shaun again. He would know his father, that was the promise she’d made. So if she had the opportunity to find out more about him, she couldn’t pass that up. For Shaun.

“Okay…” her voice was hesitant. “Where are we going?”

Kellogg cocked his eyebrow at her before leaning forward.

“You think you’re the only one that knows the Institute’s got secrets?”

Though taken aback, Nora knew there was no way he knew as much as her. 

“I dare you to try and surprise me.” She could never resist a challenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably about as major as I'm going to go with Nora's past relationship.
> 
> I'm not entire sure what the next few chapters will involve, I do plan on exploring Nora's relationship with other people in the Institute, possibly do something with Kellogg and Shaun. I'm not sure yet.
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me.


	6. Evolution

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora gets a history lesson. And decides the Institute need one too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First major bit of Fallout lore. Don't come crying to me if its not dead on point, I told you what I'd be doing with it lol.

Nora entered the Institute’s library disappointed, airing her annoyance freely. Kellogg sat her down in front of the terminal, told her what to do, and waited until she had done what she needed to.

He read every emotion possible on her face as time went on. Sometimes he’d see her laughing, just a little, other times she’d look angry. But most of the time she just looked sad and Kellogg suddenly found himself regretting the idea.

When she was done she got up from the chair, walked over to him and silently kissed the forehead of her son before turning towards the door. Kellogg followed, Shaun wrapped in his arms, and tried to gauge what she was feeling. It's never a good thing when women like her are quiet.

At first he thought she was heading to her room, it was her only form of sanctuary in the whole place (his too but he dare not go into that right now), but unless they were taking an extremely long route, they were going somewhere else.

They eventually reached the atrium, neither of them having spoken one word to each other since they entered the library. Nora span in place as she tried to get her bearings.

“Wanna tell me-“ She cut him off with a loud shush and a finger to her mouth.

She veered left when she found the correct department and Kellogg continued to follow.

Kellogg looked up at the BioScience sign as they walked underneath it and through the door.

Nora spotted the single, lowly scientist of the other side of the glass. She didn’t hesitate as she pressed the door release and walked up to him.

“Miss Pendleton.” He greeted with a single nod of his head.

In another circumstance she would be telling him to call her Nora, but pleasantries could wait. The answer to her question might determine just how much she continued to help the Institute - there were enough fine prints in her contract to give her every right to walk away if she wanted to.

She remained quiet, he looked her, flicking his gaze towards Kellogg. Her silence was beginning to unnerve him, Kellogg could empathise.

“C-can I help you?”

It amazed Kellogg just how terrified people got around her, if that’s what she wanted them to feel. He was the only other person he knew that could invoke that much fear. And Kellogg had his face to help him. Nora would have made a better criminal than a scientist.

“Actually, yes.” She smiled, a smile that unnerved him. “Is this the department helping to develop FEV?”

“Yes, it is.” He almost sounded proud, which only angered her more.

Everything on that terminal was burned into her memory.

“Do you know the original intention of the FEV experiments?”

The ignorant scientist shook his head, as if he didn’t even need to know. She decided he did need to know, they all needed to know.

Her mother told her the story when she was ten, telling her it was important that the world learnt from its mistakes. Apparently it didn’t and neither did people.

“To help cure the effects of the New Plague.”

When he looked at her confused she wanted to slap him. Like Kellogg said, it wasn’t like the information was hard to find.

The New Plague - or Limit 115 as her grandmother called it - was a virus designed by C.I.T and West Tek, back when their relationship wasn’t so strained. Said tension being created as a result of what happened.

A neutral territory was decided when it came to testing - Hoover Dam - no one knew the Chinese had infiltrated the team. Then again, that was the point. They took vials and tried to escape.

Give a man a gun and suddenly he thinks he’s a superhero.

Security and police shot them, not really thinking, and the virus hit the air, with no way to stop it.

For the first time ever, America was under national quarantine.

There was only so much sympathy Nora could have for them. Yes, over two-hundred thousand people were killed, but the intention behind the virus had been to realise it in China. Nora always did believe in karma.

The government, by nature, just used it in their propaganda, eventually deciding to register people and advocate isolation. As if relations with other countries wasn’t bad enough, their own government was forcing them to doubt each other.

West Tek were given the grant to help develop a cure. The only reason Nora knew as much as she did about the PIV Project was because Roger introduced her to a supercomputer she wasn’t authorised to meet.

It was meant to stimulate the human immune system, it being determined that altering the subject's DNA in such a way that its dual helical structure transformed into a quadruple helical structure and would render the recipient immune to almost any known or engineered pathogen.

The whole reason Roger was stationed at West Tek was because of the interest the military had with the notion - seeing the potential in military applications. 

They started in animals, just as they always did. They immediately saw it as a success. They grew dramatically larger in size and muscular structure, and their brain activity increased. It was exactly what the government wanted for its soldiers and by 2077 the research was moved to Mariposa. And as a result, so was Roger.

She had no idea what had really happened, they hadn’t talked in the later months of 2077. Finlay was busy getting her ready for the vault and Roger was working at Mariposa. Three days before she went into the vault he rang her, told her he didn’t really have time to explain, only that he loved and her and would see her again.

He called her every day, for the first nine days of October. Now she’d read the terminal, she understood what had him so preoccupied. He rung her that day because he’d learnt the truth behind the FEV virus and deserted the army.

Nora wished she could feel as devastated about it as he probably would have been. Back in C.I.T there were bets on how long it would take West Tek to move onto humans. And Nora knew most of them were going to be involuntary.

Not every military prisoner signed up for the Robobrain experiments. What else were they going to do with the people sat in their cages doing nothing.

Her grandmother had described it exactly like that, when she and her mother were having a conversation Nora wasn’t supposed to hear.

But just reading what happened to them, before and after the war, it was unforgivable.

Though, a heads up from Kellogg about super mutants may have been appreciated.

The Master - if that wasn’t a terrifying name then she didn’t know what was.

“Are you still testing on humans?” She asked, knowing but not wanting to hear the answer. The scientist nodded and Nora’s fist clenched, solid pops resinating from her knuckles as she did. “Why?”

She had to, _needed_ to ask. Had history taught them nothing? 

Nora felt the overwhelming desire to find her doctorate and rip it apart, deserting herself from the sciences. She knew nothing of the surface, other than what Kellogg had told her and everything written on that _horrific_ terminal, but she’d rather live up there as a mother than done here as a scientist.

“Because we are studying the effects of the virus on the human body.” He stated, straight out of the textbook that was thrusted under his nose at a young age.

“I think that’s been perfectly well documented already,” she scoffed, turning away slightly in disbelief. Nora always found it hard to look at people when they were being idiotic.

Her eyes scanned the walls, flitting back when she noticed something odd. A hundred and fifty-six year old memory flashed in her mind and the blueprints on Finlay’s desk appeared.

It wasn’t exactly hidden, not like the other doorways that had been created, so they must have known it was there.

So why put a desk in front of it?

The room had fallen silent. The scientist wasn’t sure what to say, and Nora was suddenly focused on the wall behind her. Kellogg was sure he wasn’t imagining it - the longer Nora stared at the wall, the more uncomfortable the guy looked.

Kellogg groaned under his breath. He was fine with them keeping secrets from him - the less he knew the better - but for a bunch of scientists, they really shouldn’t try to hide shit from Nora. She knew this place better than all of them combined.

“What do you do with the people you experiment on?” She asked, her gaze still on the wall. Kellogg was trying to figure out what was going on inside her head.

“Those who survive are sent back out in the Commonwealth.”

Great, like that doesn’t add to the problem.

“The rest are disposed of.”

“Lovely," tutted Nora. “All of them?” She suddenly whipped her head around to face him. That was enough to throw him off a step or two. He stuttered a few non-words but said nothing.

She walked forward, like a predator hunting its prey. Kellogg knew the walk well. 

“Let me put it to you another way, considering you’re having difficulty understanding English right now.” She stood inches away from him. He was trembling, looked absolutely terrified and Nora wondered if he was going to piss himself. 

She wasn’t even trying to be intimidating, she simply wanted him to answer the question. As quickly as he could, if possible.

“Is there a person infected with FEV in...this...building?” She placed a finger over his mouth before he could speak. He stilled underneath her and she resisted the urge to laugh, no wonder the smart kids got beaten up in school. 

“I don’t want to you talk, I want you to nod. Yes or no, is there a ‘ _super mutant’_ somewhere behind that door?”

Kellogg was looking at him just as intently, curious to find out the answer too.

The scientist nodded, fear obvious in his eyes, and Nora sighed in a desperate attempt to calm herself.

“Okay,” she said through gritted teeth.

Kellogg’s gaze was brought to the floor, a strange red puddle had started to form. He moved his eyes upwards and noticed that droplets of blood were leaving Nora’s clenched hand.

“I’m going to need you to open the door.”

“I-I-I’m not authorised to-“

Kellogg sighed as he, with some difficulty, pulled his pistol out of its holster. He cocked the gun as he pointed it at the man’s face.

“Please,” emphasised Nora. She didn’t need to look to know Kellogg was holding his pistol over her shoulder.

The scientist stared at the barrel of the gun and nodded frantically. Glad he didn’t have to waste a bullet Kellogg put the gun back in its holster while the scientist panic-searched for the button that opened the door.

Nora noticed the uneasy, neon yellow glow before they turned the corner. Nothing in her deepest imagination could have prepared her for it.

On one side of the room was what she expected to find, powerful technology no one had a right to possess. And behind her, taking up the whole south facing wall, jars of creatures that had been forever altered by radiation. Though she did have to look back at the third jar in, the thing inside looked incredibly like an alien.

Nora shook her head with a smile, erasing the thought completely. As if such a thing was likely. She turned back to check on Shaun, and the man still holding him. Kellogg looked just as shocked as her, though not as horrified because, no doubt, he had come across each of these creatures whilst out on the surface.

Nora stopped at one particular jar. The creature inside was wearing what was once a dress, and Nora swore it was looking right at her. It looked familiar somehow, like something out of a bad horror film. Just looking at it, she could tell it used to be a person - all essence of humanity ripped away from it.

“Feral.” She stated, looking over at Kellogg for confirmation. He nodded.

She placed her palm on the glass and took a deep breath. She felt the urge to say something, but stopped herself.

“Is it weird I want to say sorry?” She asked Kellogg, her eyes still locked with the feral she hoped couldn’t actually see her.

“Why are you sorry?”

“Because experience has taught me that intelligent people lack common sense. Limit 115, or the ‘New Plague’ was being developed by both West Tek and C.I.T because the government were paranoid that the Chinese would resort to biological warfare. At first they wanted it to be a cure, for whatever the Chinese decided to throw at us. A few months into development they decided it would be better to use it against them first.”

“Still don’t see how that makes it your fault.” He pointed out.

Nora took her hand away from the glass and continued examining every tube.

“Because my grandmother worked on the project, and when she retired she pumped a lot of money into making sure it was put towards military applications. She was a big believer in survival of the fittest.”

“Sounds like a smart lady.”

“She was,” smiled Nora dryly. “Most intelligent woman I ever knew. She taught me almost everything I know, but we always differed on our views of evolution.”

Kellogg cocked a questioning eye at her.

“It's actually one of the few things Finlay and I agreed upon. Evolution isn’t about survival of the fittest, it's about being adaptable to change.”

He continued with his questioning eyebrow.

“Think about it. The human race, no matter what form,” she added as they walked past another supermutant, “has adapted itself to survive in a world savaged by radiation.”

She was assuming at this point.

“Their humanity may be gone,” she gestured along the wall, “but rather than let themselves die, their bodies simply adjusted and evolved accordingly. You’ve read that terminal, not everyone who went through the process of becoming…them,” she pointed at the jar, “survived. It wasn’t because they weren’t strong enough, it was because their bodies couldn’t handle the change.  You would have never been born if it weren’t for humanity’s ability to adapt,” she pointed out.  “Are they alive?” she shouted to the other side of the room to the scientist stood awkwardly in the corner.

She could just make out him shaking his head. 

“Then why keep them?”

“To study.”

“You know what you should be trying to figure out?” Having had enough of this sickness she walked back towards the door. The scientist watched her with every step she took. He looked at her questioningly when they were a few feet apart. “A cure.”

The very thing FEV was meant to be in the first place. It had been like putting a bandaid on a bullet hole. But maybe, after all this time, the Institute could fair better than West Tek, and maybe this time they could find a cure once and for all.

It wasn’t something that could be accomplished overnight, she knew that. She needed to do research, expand her knowledge base, and try to figure out, if they did create a cure, just how much they’d need.

The key to perfecting synthetic life may flow through her veins but they needed her for so much more than that. Maybe the reason they were humanity’s last hope was because they still had a shred of it left. 

She didn’t just _want_ to go to the surface, she needed to.

“Does this mean you’re going to see Harrogate?” Kellogg asked, almost having to run to catch up with her. His voice was hopeful, or at least as hopeful as he could get.

She shook her head and looked down at her arm. “Oh no, if I go to him now I might just dislocate his spine. Nope, I’m going to do the one thing I set out to do in the first place.”

Kellogg looked down at the kid in his arms. Nora asked him to hold Shaun so many times it had become second nature, he’d practically been holding the kid all day. It was at moments like this his mind wandered back to the vault - when she handed Shaun over before emptying the magazine of his pistol into the ceiling.

Whilst Nora gave in to her emotions, she still had enough self control to make sure her son was safe first. As good as she was for the Institute, and for him, he couldn’t help but wonder how much she would have flourished if she’d lived her life the way she was supposed to.

When he looked up at her she was staring at him, her eyes flitting to Shaun before back to him and shaking her head.

“Being a mother goes without saying.”

“Then what’s your plan?”

“To help the Institute learn from their mistakes. One department at a time.”

Kellogg knew, whatever she meant by that, it couldn’t be good. He was just grateful no one had given her a gun yet. Probably best they didn’t ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course, as always, thank you for reading.
> 
> I recently lost my job and whilst I look for another, I've got nothing else to do than write.
> 
> Though most of my time is being consumed by the original fic I'm desperate to write involving nuka-world. But I haven't forgotten about this baby, and I'm really hoping to move things along with these two in the next couple of chapters. If I can work out the writing, but like I said I've got time!
> 
> xx


	7. Research and Development

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora's been studying, and that's not good news for Kellogg.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a filler chapter really, I've been sitting on it for ages but for some reason never posted it. Apologies to people whom have been waiting forever for me to update!

Kellogg learnt quick that Nora had had plans for the place for a while, ever since they started building it. She never agreed with her boss on the layout, or the secret rooms Kellogg was curious to find. He walked her to her room, leaving her there as she, for the tenth time, told him how she would have designed the Bioscience department — telling him she drew up plans and everything. Telling him she had her old man to thank for that.

Kellogg made his way towards Harrogate’s office, as per his instructions via a third party in the form of a terrified scientist. Whilst he knew he had to, he wasn’t happy about it, Kellogg had told him from the beginning to man up and speak to the woman. Nora had been inside the Institute almost a month and neither of them had spoken to one another since their first meeting.

As always Kellogg walked through the door to his office without knocking, he didn’t have enough respect for Harrogate to do that. The usual look of daggers was thrown before the relief at his presence.

“Kellogg, please, sit down.” He gestured to the chair on the other side of his desk.

“I’d rather stand,” responded Kellogg, crossing his arms over his chest. “What can I do for you?”

“Um, yes,” Harrogate shuffled the paperwork on his desk pointlessly as he stood up. “Dr. Frederick has requested a trip to the surface, I need you to accompany him.”

Kellogg raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Harrogate’s was fussing unnecessarily, avoiding meeting his eye. His original instructions had been to watch Nora, and slowly convince her to let them do whatever to her and her son, why the sudden change of focus?

“Frederick’s never requested to go up before.” No scientist had.

“He informs me it is of dire importance.”

Kellogg hummed in disbelief but acceptance. It sounded like bullshit, but that didn’t mean he had a choice in the matter. He still worked for the man.

“When do I leave?”

“Straightaway.” The word flew out of his mouth, he’d been desperate to get it out.

That left him no time to warn Nora - obviously a part of his plan. Maybe word had reached him that Nora was thinking about renovating the place. Still wasn’t enough for Harrogate to be a man apparently.

Kellogg accepted the job in silence, turning around to leave and not giving two shits that the door slammed hard behind him. He wasn’t even sure why he was so angry.

He got sent out on the surface all the time, granted it had been a few weeks, but he found himself worrying about Nora, and Shaun for that matter. He had gotten used to playing bodyguard, almost forgot that it wasn’t actually his job.

Nora was real, down to earth. She also didn’t care how many qualifications they plastered to the wall. He’d been wanting to take her out on the surface for a while now, she hinted every chance she got, and the only thing stopping him was the idea of something happening to her.

And not just because the entire Institute would have his head if it did. Personal feelings aside, Harrogate knew they needed her. Kellogg was wondering if Harrogate was beginning to regret it - leaving her alive.

Kellogg was glad they did and whilst he couldn’t honestly say he’d spare her even if they _did_ order him to kill her, having known Nora, the world would certainly be boring without her.

Like most people Kellogg had his regrets, those moments he wished he could go back and do things differently. Killing the old man being at the top of that list, probably would have saved Mom a few painless years if he had.

Joining the Shi was next. Moving to San Francisco had been a huge mistake, though he never did regret meeting Sarah. He bet she regretted meeting him, in the last few moments of her life. She’d probably begged for him to save her, save both of them. But he was too late.

Kellogg was keeping his silent promise - to keep at least one mother and her kid alive.

Nora wasn’t in any danger, Harrogate would still be too scared to go anywhere near her,  but that wouldn’t stop him from sending in a bunch of synths to overpower her and take Shaun.

The thought enraged him, his knuckles turned white as his fists tightened and he walked briskly towards the relay where Dr. Frederick Jr was waiting for him. 

All the scientists in the Institute seemed young, too young to actually know anything and Kellogg could almost see what Nora probably went through growing up. Like she’d told him, she’d been experimented on every day of her life, she was pushed into a world she may not have necessarily wanted for herself if given the choice.

Kid was practically shaking, which was odd, considering he wanted to go up there. Kellogg shook his head slightly, praying, for Harrogate’s sake, that this wasn’t a set up. He would not be responsible for his actions if it were.

“Ready?” Kellogg eyed him up and down. He was wearing a lab coat for fuck sake.

Kellogg was sure he nodded, but he was shaking so much who could tell.

They stood on the relay. The guy next to him sighed, loud enough to grab Kellogg’s attention.

“Why did I sign up for this?” He asked himself.

Kellogg had no time to question him before they disappeared in a flash of blue light.

Even after all these years, the countless relays, Kellogg still had to take a moment to adjust. This time, however, that moment was used to grab Frederick by the collar of his lab coat and pin him up against the nearest wall.

“What the-Put me down!” He struggled pointlessly under Kellogg’s hold.

“What do you mean you ‘signed up for this’?” Kellogg asked through gritted teeth.

“I-I was told I had to come up here!”

Kellogg could feel his body growing hot, rage flowing through every extremity.

“By who?” He asked pointedly, his grip tightening on the man’s collar.

“I-Th-He-“ Kellogg was almost choking the man.

“Try again.” He growled.

“Th-That bloody woman!” He managed to gasp out.

Kellogg let him go, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth.

Frederick breathed with relief, desperate for every breath he took. He compiled himself, smoothed out the creases in his lab coat and stood up straight.

“One visit to our lab and suddenly I’m changing my field of focus.”

Kellogg hummed in approval. Seemed Harrogate was finally listening, only took him a week.

“And now I’ve got to track down a goddamn super mutant.”

Kellogg immediately scowled. _Thanks, Nora._

Super mutants were the same no matter where he went. Big, green and relentless. But, for whatever reason, the ones in the Commonwealth didn’t seem so idiotic. Still stupid, just not as stupid as they were in the Capital.

The Commonwealth didn’t have as many super mutants as the Capital, to which Kellogg was grateful, but they seemed to make up for it with their ridiculous strength (more ridiculous than normal) and inability to stay dead.

He remembered what that scientist had told Nora, that they sent failed experiments up to the surface, and whilst he’d never given it much thought before, it certainly went a long way in explaining _why_ they were so strong.

Institute grown supermutants. Kellogg couldn’t think of anything worse.

\----

Three hours later they relayed back into the Institute. He and Frederick parted ways, glad to see the back of each other. Kellogg made his way down the corridor, the scowl on his face deepening and almost becoming a permanent feature.

His uniform was heavy, covered in blood and god knows what else. Turned out they had relayed closer to a super mutant nest than Kellogg had originally anticipated. There was no time for a surprise attack, no time to find decent cover (not for him at least, Frederick found a safe area to cower behind as soon as the first grunt reached their ears). There was only time to throw as many grenades as he had and take as many shots as he could, and either his gun was more powerful than he remembered or the super mutant was closer than he expected. One precise shot and the thing exploded, guts and blood rained down - most of it covering him.

He continued to walk to his destination, ignoring the protest ‘heys’ of the people he barged past and the polite ‘can I help yous’ from the gen. twos that wouldn’t know hatred if someone shot them.

He stomped to her room, not bothering to knock - because he never did - and stormed inside.

“Where the fuck do y-“ He stopped talking when he realised he was talking to an empty room.

The bed was made and so was the cot, Kellogg couldn’t help but feel uneasy, it wasn’t like she dared to go anywhere else on her own, let alone take the kid with her.

He hit the BioScience department first, figuring she was there to catch up with Fredrick but the man simply told him he hadn’t seen her, a fact the scientist seemed quite relieved by. Kellogg on the other hand only felt more uneasy and he was running out of places she would most likely be.

Nora was nose deep in the terminal, just as she had been for the past week, Shaun asleep in the carry cot next to her feet, when a revolting smell offended her senses.

She gagged and turned around to see an angry Kellogg stalking towards her. If the smell wasn’t so disgusting that she wouldn’t risk opening her mouth, she’d be laughing. Her eyes fell on the messy trail he was leaving behind with every step he took.

“Where have you been?” she asked.

As soon as he was close enough the smell penetrated her enough to make her eyes water. She turned her head and blocked her nose, it was so potent she could taste it.

“And what the fuck is that smell?”

“Super mutant.” He grunted.

Nora pouted. “I never said _kill_ it.”

Kellogg’s eyes widened in astonishment. What did she expect to fucking happen?

“Well, the good doctor and I _were_ gonna invite him for a drink.” He looked down at himself with a grimace. “But I guess his friends got jealous.”

Nora stifled a laugh, using a hand to hide her smile. Kellogg scowled.

“Are you hurt?” She asked in a moment of sincerity, biting her bottom lip in an effort to stop a smile forming.

“Why? Would you apologise if I was?” He wondered.

“Me? What have I got to apologise for?” Kellogg raised an eyebrow at her. “I simply _suggested_ that _if_ they were going to work on a cure, they would need a fresh source of blood.” She shrugged. “I never told them to do it, I especially never told them to involve you.”

The sudden thought made her heart sink a little, just the idea of Kellogg getting hurt had her suddenly feeling the overwhelming need to wrap him in cottonwool. He seemed like the only other sane person in her entire world and Nora couldn’t lose that.

Kellogg watched her facial expression morph from one emotion to the other and he found himself not so angry anymore. Nora seemed genuinely sorry that he ended up being involved.

“You really think they’ll figure out a cure?” Kellogg hoped so, given all the shit he just went through.

“Oh, I know they will,” she said confidently. Kellogg raised another eyebrow. She looked down at the terminal and back to him. “The more I read, the more dots I connect.”

Her eyes searched behind him for a certain bookcase, when she found it she gestured Kellogg to follow.

She picked up the book without a second thought, Kellogg noticed the dog eared pages as she flicked through it. When she found the page she was looking for she turned the book and passed it to him.

He looked down at the detailed drawings of the mutants that took up both pages.

“Firsthand accounts of the super mutants in the Capital.” She turned the page from the other side of the book to show him more illustrations.

Kellogg didn’t need to read about them, he just had to close his eyes.

“Statistically, they stand a foot closer to the ground than those in the Commonwealth. They’re smaller overall, and from what I can tell from that terminal, those living in the Commonwealth are more intelligent - they even have a basic understanding of armour and weaponry.”

She had a point, now Kellogg thought about it. Mutants back in the Capital usually just tried to beat you to death, with a pipe or their bare hands. Their use of guns was what made Kellogg hate the Commonwealth.

“So,” she spoke, answering his question before he voiced it. “It makes me think that _all_ of them have come from here.” She pointed at the ground. Her voice was low, cautious that her words would reach the wrong ears. Kellogg didn’t quite believe her, and she could tell. “I’ve read almost everything I can about them, and there’s no mention of them migrating to the Commonwealth.”

The new information overwhelmed him slightly. Though he couldn’t, hand on heart, say he was surprised, it didn’t stop him feeling angry. If the Institute were calling themselves humanity’s best hope for the future why were they sending up things that could destroy it? If there was logic to it, it was lost on Kellogg.

Nora shook her head, reading his mind and agreeing with him.

“Frederick Senior started looking into how FEV would help with the synthetic process.” Kellogg wondered how such a thing was possible. Nora shook her head, telling him it wasn’t. “A few years ago they finally realised they couldn’t, so they went to plan ‘B’ and, here I am.” She gestured to herself with a smile. “Could have saved them decades of pointless work,” she added dreamily, voicing her thoughts.

Nora was lost in her head, staring blankly at the book in front of her. She was unceremoniously ripped back to reality when Kellogg took a step closer to her and she was reminded of that _horrific_ stench.

“Seriously,” she pushed him away, “you need a shower.”

“Oh yeah, I’ll get right on that.” He raised an eyebrow at her, his entire face telling her she was an idiot.

“What? They don’t have… _communal_ showers in this place?”

Kellogg shook his head. “Only showers that exist are in people’s rooms.”

It amazed him just how much she’d figured out, and just how much she hadn’t. Most people start at the bottom, start with the simple things, and then work their way up. Nora seemed to be going in the other direction.

“You don’t have a room?” She asked, a little surprised and slightly guilty that she’d never given it much thought. Kellogg shook his head.

“I’ve no intention of getting one either.” He stated. Nope, that was out of the question. Give him a room in this place and he might as well put on a lab coat.

His automatic defensive posture made Nora think he’d had this conversation before. But if he didn’t sleep in the Institute…

“Then where do you sleep?” She hesitated to ask, hoping ‘the ground’ wasn’t his answer. 

“Why?” He asked, a smile creeping at the corners of his mouth. “You worried about me?”

She was, but she wasn’t about to tell him that.

“Oh, _please,_ I just don’t want to be the only sane person left if you get eaten by a yao guai.”

Kellogg hummed with pride. “Looks like someone’s been doing their research.”

He watched her cheeks turn a slight shade of pink at the compliment. “Well, I thought someone should.” She smiled delicately.

\----

“Where do you want these?” asked Kellogg, holding up his boots.

“In the sink.” She suggested as she put Shaun down in his cot. She watched as Kellogg walked over to the sink and smiled when he threw his boots in it. 

As soon as they left the library they were met by a team of gen. twos, accompanied by a scientist Nora had never met before. A somewhat heated argument began, Kellogg threatening to walk through the place naked (a suggestion Nora found herself not minding), but by the end it was compromised that he at least take his shoes off.

Nora found it hard to keep a straight face the entire time, her eyes switching to his disgusting boots and the white socks that poked out of the bottom of his fatigues.

“It’s not funny.” He told her as he turned around to see her still smiling.

“I still can’t believe you listened.” Her eyes fell on his wriggling toes, he immediately moved his feet to draw her attention away.

“They pay for the lifestyle I have become accustomed to.”

It was literally the only reason he did it; Institute scientists bitched enough as it was without Kellogg adding to the problem.

Kellogg’s hands reached for the top button of his shirt, he stopped at a sudden thought. Stepping into her room was one thing, spending more time with her than deemed necessary was another. But _showering_ in her room? That was a whole other kettle of fish.

“Problem?” She asked when she noticed his hesitation.

“No.” Kellogg cleared his throat, put down his worries and slowly took his shirt off.

Nora felt every muscle in her body tighten, he wasn’t the best looking man she’d ever met, Roger looked like he just stepped out of a boyband. Had the thick, combed back hair and everything. But Kellogg was still handsome in his own right.

They stood in silence, Nora trying not to stare as he stood in front of her in nothing but his trousers.

“Got a towel?” He asked, slightly wondering why Nora had become so quiet.

“On the back of the door.” She replied as she turned away from him, figuring that was the best solution.

Kellogg disappeared into the bathroom and a few moments later she heard water running.

Nora expelled a long breath she wasn’t aware she'd been holding. She silently berated herself (she could feel the heat rushing to her face) as she walked towards her bed.

She knelt down and pulled out the metal box she kept underneath her bed. She turned to check the door to the bathroom and suddenly felt herself freeze. He hadn’t closed the door completely, and the moment Nora decided to turn around was the moment he decided to step into the shower. Through the small space Nora caught a glimpse of his bare ass and actually heard herself whimper.

Perfectly sculpted, possibly the only part of his body that wasn’t scarred. And for the first time Nora found herself wanting to research her theory. At least the first time in this particular instance.

Kellogg stepped out of the shower, watching the water and leftover dirt flow down the drain. He was surprised at how clean it still looked, a part of him thinking they were never going to get the dirt out.

He eyed the pile of filthy clothing and, whilst one hand kept a tight grip on the towel around his waist, he reached down to pick them up. He held his clothes cautiously, as if they’d suddenly spring to life, and desperately tried to block his nasal passages.

When he made his way out of the bathroom he noticed Nora sat on her bed, her back up against the wall and her face deep in yet another book.

Over the top of the book Nora caught sight of him, instantly wishing she hadn’t when she realised he was just wearing a towel. A towel that, if he loosened his grip, could easily cause him some embarrassment. Nora wondered if he actually had anything to be embarrassed about…

That train of thought wasn’t helping and she desperately reburied her head in her book. 

“What do you want me to do with these?” He asked. Regretfully she flashed him a look and saw him holding up his clothes.

“Burn them?” She suggested, it was probably the only way to get completely rid of the smell.

“This is my favourite shirt.” He said straight-faced and Nora couldn’t help but laugh. It was just a green shirt, one he no doubt had multiples of.

“Do you have any spare clothes on you?” She asked, refusing to take her eyes off the sentence she’d read six times already. In her peripheral she saw him shake his head. “Wellthat’s poor planning. I wouldn’t suggest putting them back on, makes the whole you having a shower pretty pointless.”

“So, I’ll just walk around in a towel all day?”

“If you want.” She finally turned the page, knowing she hadn’t taken in any of the information on the previous one. “Could forgo the towel whilst you’re at it,” she muttered and hid her face in her book once more.

Kellogg turned to look at her when he swore he heard her mumble something, but her face was still buried in the book in her hands.

This should be uncomfortable, right? Or he at least shouldn’t feel so relaxed about being half naked in her room. But he was, and Nora didn’t look up from her book long enough to make him think she had a problem with it.

Somewhere behind him Shaun made a noise, instantly Kellogg turned around to check on him.

Nora put down the book in fascination, her head tilting to one side as she watched him rush to Shaun. He _had_ to have been a father at some point, and Nora could only suspect that he wasn’t one anymore because no one ran to a baby like that just because they coughed.

She leant forward, resting her chin in her hand and her elbow on her leg. A small smile crept over her face when she watched him reach down to pick Shaun up.

Kellogg moaned slightly as he picked him up. “You’re getting bigger.” He told Shaun, who responded by blinking a few times.

Nora sat and watched the two of them. He continued to talk to Shaun, who responded as only a child his age could - a few gurgling noises and a few attempts to grip his fingers around Conrad's thumb.

Kellogg, having eventually let Shaun take hold of him, was surprised at the grip the kid had.

“A hold like that and you might just end up being a mercenary instead of a scientist.” Kellogg told him.

Nora was beginning to wonder if Conrad had forgotten she was there. She didn’t mind, it was nice to watch, and it was nicer knowing that Shaun would grow up with at least some male influence. Though she wasn’t sure how she felt about the idea of her son becoming a mercenary, but, then again, given the state of the Institute at the moment, she didn’t want him becoming a scientist either.

No matter. A few years and Shaun would be able to make the decision for himself. And she’d support him no matter what. She had a feeling Kellogg would too, though she wouldn’t be surprised if the man tried to give him a pistol for his first birthday.

Shaun started to squirm more, almost started to grizzle and Kellogg was worried he’d somehow hurt the kid.

Spend enough time being a mother and you can usually tell what your child wants just from the cry that leaves them. Nora shuffled off the bed and began to unbutton her shirt with one hand.

“You’re fine,” she assured Kellogg, coming up behind him. He jumped slightly, apparently he _had_ forgotten she was there. “He’s just hungry.”

She moved around him, Kellogg’s eyes immediately fell to the gap in her shirt. It took him a moment to connect the dots.

“D-Do you want me to go?” He asked, not really wanting to stand in the corridor in nothing but a towel.

Nora shrugged. “Its nothing you haven’t seen before.”

During the ‘spontaneous’ visits to her room Kellogg had walked in on her breastfeeding Shaun at least three times. You’d think he’d never seen a woman naked before, given how uncomfortable he looked every time.

“And you’re in a far worse state than I am.” She smiled.

“At least I don’t smell anymore.” Kellogg carefully passed Shaun over to her.

Without really thinking Nora leant towards his shoulder. “Nope, now you just smell like soap.”

She turned away and Kellogg watched her unbutton her shirt with one hand. Just knowing that she was undressing, that all he had to do was spin her around, had him gripping onto the towel with desperation.

Making sure Nora still had her back to him he looked down at his crotch and told himself to man up. He had more self control than this.

“Your blood test is coming up soon, aint it?” Kellogg was desperate to fill the silence with something, anything that would stop his blood from rushing to one particular part of his body. He was becoming lightheaded.

“Tomorrow.” She responded without turning to look at him.

“Tomorrow.” He repeated. “Just do me a favour and don’t go renovating the place whilst you’re at it.”

A sharp laugh left Nora. “Don’t worry,” her free hand stroked the fine hair on Shaun’s head, apologising for disturbing him. “Keep me out of everywhere else, for now, and I’m sure I’ll be fine.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, you're awesome x

**Author's Note:**

> Names are either taken from Institute scientists that are around during the actual game timeline. Others are a mixture of those who are currently employed at M.I.T because yes, I really am that pathetic. (I apologise to anyone who actually attends M.I.T but I hope you find it amusing)
> 
> \----
> 
> This mainly started because I wanted to write a FSS/Kellogg fanfic and I refuse to give in to the notion that she would begin a romantic relationship with the bastard that ruined her life. Because, evidently, there's a line I won't cross. Who knew?


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